


Freezing Moon

by Kairomone



Category: Naruto
Genre: Blank Period, Blood, Dramedy, F/M, Hate Sex, Hate/Love relationship, Knifeplay, Shameless Smut, like what did you expect this is Hidan, lots of swearing, two idiots bad at communicating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:33:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 23,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29399850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kairomone/pseuds/Kairomone
Summary: It was his time to shine; he was back from his grave, and then one Konoha kunoichi upended everything. Sugar n' Spice, Valentijn Evenement 2021
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Hidan
Comments: 11
Kudos: 27
Collections: Make it smutty, Sugar n Spice Valentijn Evenement 2021





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sugar n' Spice, Valentijn Evenement 2021, Theme 2: Spice/Smut
> 
> A thank you to Seth's Kiss and Neko Pantera for hosting.
> 
> I participated in this event with these other wonderful authors: Alastair, AsgardianHobbit98, Damnyousillygoose, GustavonkaLondon, HisagiKirigakure, Iceburg-sanCPX, Kakashi97, Kamil the Awesome, Karkatsbabe, Max333, Nazaki-Sama, NekoPantera, Phoenixreal, Potashiamu, RavenStyx, Sailor Silver Ladybug, Seth's Kiss, SerenaJones585, SesshomaruFreak, Spunky0ne and Yatsu Narurasuke Please check out their stuff as well, when they post it, and if you have interest. Our ratings vary, so be also mindful of those.  
> Here's the doc with the links to other stories: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T5uZiIjmsxKS_BewAoCPMyrjUidlcQuk3B3HD6WnvDo
> 
> A huge thank you to the lovely Seth's Kiss for beta reading my garbled garbage and fixing it up to something more coherent.
> 
> I'll be honest, writing this probably was way too much fun than it was supposed to be. idk why I didn't try writing from Hidan's pov before because I was having the time of my life. Seriously, it was so easy probably because low key irl I'm that twat that says insulting things as random comments, which aren't really supposed to be insults as much as they are supposed to be blunt statements, but eh...each to their own. Also, after dwelling into the HidaSaku fanfic archive again I made it my mission to make Hidan less of a pushy creep because geez, some authors really did him dirty. Give Hidan some dignity goddammit. Another fun thing fandom made Hidan to be was uber religious to the point of no nonsense, like don't get me wrong he's a zealot, but somehow people missed the canonical, obvious info that he wasn't above complaining like a bitch about his religion. I think that's the fun part of his character that he does not give a shit on any level and is hedonistic to a fault.
> 
> My personal challenge for this two-shot was to set it in canon, write from Hidan's pov, keep Sakura as close to canon as possible and make it smutty. And oh boy, did it get smutty.
> 
> Warnings for some mild knife play (more like chakra blade)(ch 2), blood and swearing because this is Hidan, he's a walking warning label.

After who knows how fucking long he had made it, he had gotten his freedom and, naked as the day he was born, bailed from the cursed forest. Jashin had promised him freedom, promised him eternal life, and he'll be damned if he let that be wasted away buried under rocks and sand.

It had taken days to get out of the damn country, thankfully with something to wear. As much as he liked to scandalize people, this wasn't the time. He had a lot of time to make up for and stuff to regain. He had lost everything in that fucking pit – his weapons, his hitai-ate and most importantly his rosary. The tools were easy to replace, everything else had been custom made. He didn't give a shit about shinobi customs, the hitai-ate was lost to time and he was fine with that one.

In his haste he hadn't paid attention where he had been going, wandering around random plains and forests. Only after some deliberation he had retreated to Land of Water – the place with the least dirt around. Seriously, fuck dirt for the next decade.

There were slight changes in the world, things seemed to be more advanced, and some of the new technology confused him. Though that was the menial stuff. As long as the Akatsuki fuckwads were gone for good, he was peachy. He hadn't cared about the organization; he wasn't about to care now when they had left him in a hole in the ground for what appeared to be fucking years.

Years.

Jashin help him, he lost years in that stupid place eating through dirt and mending himself together. It seemed like the taste of dirt was going to be stuck in his mouth forever. Even when he finally got his hands on someone worthy for a quick sacrifice, the taste of blood in his mouth had been dulled by fucking dirt.

Was there a word stronger than fuck? Because that's how he felt about dirt.

It took weeks to familiarize himself with the changes in the world. In his absence, a 4th shinobi war had happened. More importantly, the Akatsuki were no more, no one had survived apart from him. Hidan was absolutely fine with that. He was a bit sad that Kakuzu had died, though the feeling was short-lived.

For a month he loitered around Kirigakure, waiting for a blacksmith to complete his commission. He loved his freaky scythe and no matter how many odd looks the blacksmith threw him or tried to persuade him of how stupid the weapon was; it was his brand.

For the time being he was stuck doing short rituals that were nowhere near enough to make up for the lost time, at least until he found a jeweller competent enough to remake his rosary again. Why was it that these dickwipes never had enough silver to do it? He needed to fucking pray, and it wasn't the same without the stupid rosary. Sometimes the hoops he had to jump through to please Jashin pissed him off.

For now, he was enjoying his newfound free time and leisurely perusing the streets of Kiri, sweets in hand. Things were looking up, and he was straight back to his path for living his life for himself and himself only. And he had integrated quite well, taking on the new fashions and tech pretty easily. He found that he quite liked that leather jacket he used to have, so he found a similar one sans the hood and some black pants and sandals. It seemed that having less colour was in style.

Life couldn't be better. Until a shinobi with a particular hitai-ate passed him on the street. Fucking Konoha shinobi in Kiri and with dumb pink hair to boot. It soured his mood instantly, and he sneered after the receding back of the pink-haired bitch. Couldn't he get some peace from those cocksuckers?

He was tempted to run after her and stab her with his spear, fuck the ritual she just needed to die, like any other Konoha shinobi. The spiky-haired one was the primary target, though. But alas, she quickly merged with the crowd and he lost sight of her, despite the bright hair colour. If he had his scythe with him, he would gladly mow through the pedestrians to slice her up.

Whatever, it wasn't meant to be. Still, sacrificing a Konoha shinobi was on the top of his list. It was the least he could do to exact some kind of revenge for the lost time.

xxx

A few days later he was wandering the misty marsh, searching for some unlucky sob to be his next sacrifice because he was interested to see in what fascinating ways he could sacrifice someone in knee deep, muddy water. When he came across the Konoha bitch again, her hitai-ate shone in the sweltering sun, almost as if it was mocking him.

She was in the murky water with overalls on, ass in air, hands almost elbow deep. A basket filled with greenery floated beside her.

Two in a row. It was a sign. She was going to get sacrificed.

Extendable spear in hand, he advanced, a giddy smirk on face. He walked on top of the water, silencing his steps. "Hey, pink bitch! You ready to get sacrificed?"

She flinched harshly, nearly losing her balance. "Fuck! You want to give me a heart-attack?"

Oh, that was a pleasant surprise – girlie had a big mouth on her. He was even more pleased when she turned to face him. Bright green eyes and pouty lips scowled at him. If she wasn't a Konoha bitch, he might even find her kind of pretty. The hair colour was ridiculous though.

"I'm gonna do worse than that, skank."

She grimaced and sighed after that. "Can you, please, go bother someone else? I'm in no mood to fight. I have a very important task to finish and I would be very thankful if you kindly fucked off."

He couldn't decide if her stubborn defiance was appealing or annoying. But just because she was from Konoha, he stuck with annoying. "No can do. I have a bone to pick with you Konoha fucks."

Her face twisted into a grimace and she observed him as if looking at him for the first time. She clenched her hands. "I don't seem to remember you, but you do look familiar."

With a swift yank, he extended the spear. "Less talk, more fight." He wasn't even in the mood to shit-talk, which was a first, but the raging fire for revenge burned hotter.

Hidan was first to advance. Usually he would lead with his scythe, this time he was stuck using his fists and his spear. He had to give it to her. Despite being knee deep in water, she still successfully avoided his attacks and even retaliated.

The punch to his gut had not been a surprise, the strength behind it though… He went flying across the marsh, losing the grip on the spear. That wasn't normal. He had gathered from her agility in close quarters that she was a taijutsu fighter. The freakish strength was another thing. With a splash, he landed in murky water.

She didn't waste a moment and was on top of him in the next second, using his spear to pin him underwater. It pierced him through his chest in what was probably intended as a killing blow. Blood clouded his sight of her, blurring her into an outline. She did not fuck around.

Letting the spear pierce through him, he rose from the water, harshly pushing her away with a kick. He swiped his wet hair from his face, laughing at her dumbstruck face. "Thought it'd be that easy, huh?"

"I know you! You're Akatsuki." She pointed a finger at him. "But you all were supposed to be dead."

He snarled. "Fuck the Akatsuki. I'm my own man."

She took a step back, finally showing proper fear. "You're...you're the one Shikamaru buried?"

"So what if I am?" He took a step forward.

"How...how did you get out?"

This time he laughed at her bewilderment. "Buncha dirt ain't gonna stop me."

She scrunched her nose like he was scum, and for some reason the action put him back in a foul mood. Then she groaned. "I really don't have the time to deal with idiots."

"Hey! Watch your trap, bitch. I'm not here to play around."

"Does it look like I give a shit? I have plants to collect and patients to save. I don't have the time to deal with your stupid agenda." She glared at him, but before he could get a word in, she spoke over him. "And I don't care. You're an asshole for what you did and the five years in ground were well deserved, but I don't have the time. Find someone else to bother." She rushed back to where she had left off, gathering up her stuff, not sparing a single glance his way.

"Don't you dare turn your back on me! We're not done here." He rushed after her only to get beat back with one of her deadly fists, knocking the breath out of him. Fuck, she'd been holding back before.

By the time he recovered she was gone, disappeared into the mist.

Fuck, fuckity fuck fuck.

He was rusty as hell. That stupid hole and stupid Konoha shinobi. It was humiliating to admit that a girl with stupid coloured hair could get the best of him with a single well-aimed punch. As soon as he got his scythe back, he will need to train to get back into shape. Funny what years of dismemberment and eating dirt could do to a person. When the time comes, she'll be the first one to go. Disregarding him like he was shit, throwing him around like a wimp. Oh no, something like that won't go away unpunished. She'll make a fine sacrifice to Jashin.

xxx

After a month in Kiri and his weapon finally obtained, he travelled up to the Land of Lightning. He'd still yet to find a jeweller to mould his rosary, though. He had heard good things about some jewellers in Kumo, though. It had been long enough and he couldn't keep putting off the longer rituals with the excuse of not having the rosary. Jashin was impatient. He'd been enjoying the ritual free slaughter though, it was fast and effective. It will be a pain to go back to the longer ones. Shit fucking hurt.

He hadn't even made far past the border when familiar pink hair caught his eye across the grassy plain. Oh great, the pink bitch was back. How the fuck did he have the luck of always running into her?

She noticed him as well and didn't even bother to hide her disgruntlement. "Just what I needed, more idiots."

"Oi, I heard that. This time I'm goin' to end it for real."

She didn't run away, but she did wait for him to approach, arms crossed. "Yeah, sure, because it went so well last time. I can't believe you used to be Akatsuki."

He sneered. "Shut up. I wanna see how you deal after being buried in the ground for years, shit's hard on your body."

She shook her head. "Whatever. I have a mission to finish and I'm in no mood to deal with rejects."

Drawing his scythe and pointing it at her, he grinned darkly. "Fight me."

And surprisingly enough, she complied. This time though he was a better match, and he even nicked her with the blades. Score. Her blood in his mouth, he got ready for his jujutsu, but the bitch knew what was coming and each time he geared himself to draw the circle she smashed up the ground with her brutish strength. His jujutsu rendered useless, he relied on taijutsu and his spear. But the scythe was too slow. Clunky. And she was way too fast. Too agile.

Why was this pink bitch so hard to kill? Jashin help him.

This time he knew of her deadly blows and was more wise in avoiding her hits. What he didn't expect was for her powerful hits to transfer as effectively to her kicks as well. Once she sent him flying into a tree, she dusted her hands. "Are we done? I really need to be going."

The tree had splintered with the force of the impact. One large splinter had wedged through his chest, piercing his lung. He coughed blood.

At least this time he had managed to rough her up a bit too. Her hair was dishevelled and a nice bruise was forming on the side of her jaw. But still. Why was she better than him?

Fuck. Regular dumbfucks on the road were easy to dispose of, trained, war hardened kunoichi were another thing. Yeah, he looked more into the pink bitch called Sakura with an arsenal under her belt that was nothing to scoff at. Even with his healing, he still wasn't up to shape. Jashin was probably punishing him for the shoddy rituals.

"Fuck you, cunt," he bit out, coughing again.

She raised her brows. "Oooh, I'm trembling in my boots."

This mocking, stupid girl. He was going to slice her into million pieces and then sacrifice her to Jashin.

With a swish of her hair, she pivoted on her heel, walking away like he wasn't a threat at all.

"Just you wait, I'm goin' to-"

She waved her hand nonchalantly. "Don't care. Save your evil villain speech for someone else."

Yes, he was going to end her.

Once he extracted himself from the tree, he rushed after her, following the traces of her chakra signature. But she was no novice, and he lost the trace.

xxx

He found her again after a week at the outskirts of a random village in Land of Lightning. It was fucking fate. Jashin was looking out for him.

She had spotted him first and had bailed into the thin forest as soon as she had.

Hidan followed, giddy to finally get his hands on her. It was obvious she was distraught and disoriented, zig-zagging through the forest without a direction. Catching up to her was easy. He threw his scythe and surprisingly enough when he pulled it back she tripped on it, landing face first on the ground. Fucking score. "Look at what I caught? A little, naughty bunny."

Glaring at him from her spot on the ground, she swiped the grime from her face. "Piss off, Hidan. I'm seriously not in the mood to beat your ass."

He grinned. She knew his name. How wonderful. "Today I'm doing the beating, sweetheart. Your time has come to an end."

Sakura turned around on the ground when he extracted his spear, resting her weight on her elbows. "Fine." She laid back, arms extended.

He deflated, the glee evaporating. "What?" How was this supposed to be fun if she just gave up like this? She was supposed to scream and thrash in pain, not accept her defeat. Did she really think so little of him? He walked up to her prone form and kicked her boots. "Get up, bitch. We're doing this right and proper. I'm not letting you off the hook so easily."

"I don't care. I'm just so tired of everything."

Hidan grimaced. This was not going how he imagined it at all. He sighed. If she's going to mope around, that'd rob his fun. "Why?"

She peeked from between her mussed hair at him shortly. "Because I get no breaks."

"Oh, boo-ho. You have to work your pretty little ass. Newsflash, everyone does. You're not special."

Sakura frowned and sat up, the familiar fire back in her eyes. "You," she pointed an accusing finger his way, "have no clue what you're talking about. You only care about yourself while I have countless people depending on me. I fuck up, someone might die. You fuck up, nothing happens."

He frowned. "No one forced you to be a martyr. Nothing wrong for wanting to live for yourself."

She was quiet for a long while, seemingly considering his words until, "Whatever. Like I said, you wouldn't understand." And laid back down on the ground.

This was no fun at all. Jashin didn't accept willing sacrifices. Death for them wasn't supposed to be a reprieve, but a sentence. Maybe he should just leave her and find her another time. Killing her like this was a total waste.

In the end, he settled down on the ground not too far from her, propping his scythe against a tree.

She turned her head. "What are you doing?"

"Waitin' for you to pull your shit together," he grumbled. The damn mossy ground was damp and his ass was wet instantly.

Sakura laughed, resting her hands on her stomach. It was the first time he heard her laugh, and it was surprisingly nice. "Good luck with that."

He grunted in response, looking away from her into the forest. The sun was slowly sinking in the horizon and the temperature was lowering. Ominous clouds filled the sky. Sakura laid in the grass on her side, an uneasy crease in her brow, hair mussed and dress dirty from her fall. It was the first time he got to observe her and notice how small she actually was. Her big mouth and fierce fists usually hid her size.

All of a sudden, she broke the silence with a tired whisper, "Do you ever regret something you've done?"

After a moment of deliberation, he replied, "Not really."

"Seriously?" She turned to face him, eyes huge.

Hidan frowned. "No point to dwell on the past." The conversation was making him uncomfortable. The past was the past, and ruminating over his mistakes seemed like a waste of time.

She fell back in the grass, arm covering her face. "Ugh, I wish I could be such a simpleton as you."

He kicked her feet. "Hey! What's with these idiot jokes? I 'ain't daft."

Sakura smiled a little. "Sure, let's go with that."

He was tempted to kick her again, but refrained from provoking her. The sun hit her hair and it glowed in this bright stupid pink that looked sort of nice on her...and he was almost tempted to kick himself for having the thought.

In the end, Sakura fell asleep, and he grew bored and left. Night was coming and he hoped that she froze to death instead. Not a very satisfying end for someone like her, but it was something at least.

xxx

For the next six weeks, he kept finding her at the most random of times. It was unnatural. Geez, did she ever stay in one place? It was his mission to travel all over the world and bring death and destruction. What was her excuse?

He always engaged her in a fight and the progress was great - they were an even match. Yet she still kept evading his jujutsu and he was unable to sacrifice her.

His frustration was visible. "Stay still already, so I can kill you, you fucking twat."

Similarly to him, she had grown just as frustrated with the encounters. "Go deepthroat a cactus, fuckstick."

If there was one thing he had grown to admire was her foul vocabulary. She did not take his words laying down and returned them with the same fervour. He hated her more just for making him like that about her.

Sweltering air blew through the dunes, the sun just as hot. The aforementioned cacti surrounded them. Sand stuck to her sweaty skin and she was panting hard, hands posed in front. A vicious glare marred her face.

They kept circling each other, waiting for the other to strike first. He had long since given up on trying to nick her with his scythe and had resolved on learning to be more versatile with the spear. He liked fighting with his weapons and while he had no problem matching her in taijutsu; she was still better at avoiding his spear.

"Do you seriously have nothing better to do than bother me all the time?"

He laughed. "Then kill me if I'm such a bother. Oh wait, you can't. So I'll guess you'll just have to die first."

Her face twisted into a grimace and she attacked. They exchanged another series of blows – Sakura avoiding his spear and parrying his hits and him avoiding her blows.

One thing was for sure, he was brushing up on his taijutsu quite well when fighting her. Sometimes, she sprung an earth ninjutsu on him, but those were sparse. That one time when she'd ditched him by catching him in a genjutsu was humiliating, though. And he had tried to return the favour, but the stupid bint got out if it before he could have any fun.

xxx

She found him two months later in Ame, which was a first. He had somewhat forgotten about her. With the regain of his rosary, he'd been busy catching up on all the praying and rituals he'd been neglecting to do. So when she approached him randomly at a rowdy bar, needless to say he was surprised.

A mischievous smile was on her face as she sat on the stool next to him. "Wanna go for a round?" She leaned against the counter.

Hidan smirked and turned to face her, giving her a slow once over. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were propositioning me."

She scrunched her nose. "Ew no, get your head out of your ass. I'm talking about a fight."

He took a slow sip of his beer, letting her stew in anticipation. "Not feelin' it. Find another sob to punch around."

Sakura pouted. "So what, you bother me for months, fighting me, but now when I ask to return the favour you don't want to?"

"Your first mistake was asking."

She clicked her tongue and threw a quick glance around the bar. It was dim and crowded with different nationality shinobi and pedestrians, loud, hard music drowning out the chatter.

"Wait, you're not thinking of starting it here?"

A slow smile slipped across her lips. "What's it to you? I thought that you don't care about anything?"

"Well, yeah, but I'd like to finish my beer."

There was something off about her. There was a noticeable pink flush to her face and her movements were a bit sluggish, as if…

Suddenly, she leaned closer, invading his personal space.

He flinched back. She had never been that close before unless they were fighting.

"Don't tell my teammates, but the reason I joined their mission is because I heard about someone like you being here."

...she was drunk as fuck.

"What?"

She nodded absent mindedly. "I wanted to fight someone and you're the best option, plus you're funny." He had nothing to say to that, and Sakura laughed. "Okay, I gotta go, Sai is calling me back." She winked, actually fucking winked. "I won't tell them you're here." And sauntered back into the crowd like she just hadn't dropped a bomb.

What the fuck had that been? Mixed signals out the ass. It's not like he cared anymore about killing her. He had satiated his need for revenge weeks ago by killing and sacrificing multiple other Konoha shinobi that had been unlucky enough to pass his path. She was just the one that was the most evasive, and admittedly quite fun to fight.

It might not have been about killing her the last few times as much as it had been to piss her off and watch her explode. By this point, they were more or less evenly matched, he'd say if he really tried he could probably take her down. But it wasn't about taking her down anymore.

He didn't even try to find her. It just happened that they came across each other in the most random of places. It really was like fucking fate, and he had to wonder if it was Jashin telling him to finally sacrifice her. What was so special about her, anyway?

Nothing. Nothing at all...

xxx

"I hope you get testicular cancer."

"I hope you get ass cancer."

"Oh, real original."

"Blow off, bitch."

"I would, but you somehow always keep finding me."

"It's not like I go out of my way to look for you, it just happens. Deal with it."

And it kept happening.

One time, he had come across her somewhere on the border of Land of Fire and Land of Grass. They weren't even fighting that much as they were just throwing insults with a few jabs in between, circling each other.

The sun overhead was warming the cold air.

She had been separated from her teammates and couldn't stop complaining about that fact. It had become a running theme for her to constantly complain about the lack of time or needing to do something. It was irritating even him.

Xxx

It took him a while to realize that he enjoyed their battles, as fucked up as they were, and he was looking forward to them each time. Probably because the sight of her had given him the side effect of getting painfully hard. Bitch could pack a punch with both her fists and tongue, and he'd be lying if he said it didn't turn him on. Only after their fights, when he got the chance to whack off, the post-nut clarity made him disgusted with himself. Here he was, wanking to a fucking heretic, like a filthy degenerate. And he was stuck between wanting to spear her dead and fuck her senseless.

He didn't care about right or wrong, but this just rubbed him the wrong way and something needed to be done. Going on like this wouldn't fly. Fuck, maybe he just needed to shag her to get it out of his system. Killing her hadn't worked out, so that was the only other option. He didn't give a shit either way, if it was what it took to get out of this damn situation he would do it.

That's why the next time he came across her, he decided to proposition her.

They just happened to come across each other in a bar again, and she was provoking him for a fight. Again. Not drunk this time, though. She firmly stood in her spot in the doorway, yelling obscenities. Making quite a ruckus at that, too.

Hidan stayed in his spot, listening to her make a fool of herself in glee. Before she could be thrown out of the doorway for being a nuisance, he spoke up, turning to her with a short wave, "Hey, Sakura."

She froze, probably because it was the first time he had used her name and not some derogatory term to address her. Someone knocked her from the back and she stumbled into the bar, glaring at the perpetrator.

"C'mere, I have something to tell ya." He beckoned to her with a hand, patting one of the free stools next to him.

Sakura was hesitant to approach, especially with the eyes of other patrons on her. It was midday and not that many were there. The few that were, were watching them like they were a free drama show. She kind of dug that grave herself.

"If this is going to be something weird, I'm walking." She stood awkwardly near him until he pulled her on the stool next to him and pushed his untouched drink towards her. Sakura eyed the glass like it was poison.

"Relax. It's nothing horrible, I promise."

She peered at him dubiously. "Your promises mean very little to me."

He shrugged. "Your loss." And downed the shot himself.

Sakura fidgeted in her seat, throwing dirty glances towards anyone who was still staring at her while he motioned the barkeep to pour him another shot.

"So...?" Her leg shook as she eyed the bar like it was a complete shithole. Which it was, so he understood her reluctance to enter.

He let her squirm for a bit. It was funny watching her usual confident self fly out the window and worry about what a couple of drunks thought about her. "How 'bout we do this differently this time?"

"What do you mean?" she asked slowly, cautiously.

"I had an idea-"

"That's some dangerous roads you're travelling there."

He glared at her for interrupting, but it did make her smile. "-that we use my jujutsu for something else."

She tilted her head questioningly.

"I experimented a lot and there was one interesting thing I discovered. Don't tell anyone 'bout it though, Jashin isn't really for that."

Sakura groaned. "Stop talking in circles and just tell me."

He smirked and revelled in how she seemed to dread that look. "You." He pointed at her. "Me." Then at himself. "And some Jashin approved jujutsu to get our freak on."

She frowned in confusion. "I don't really get it."

Jashin help him, and she was calling him stupid. "Sex, Sakura. I'm asking if you want to fuck."

Sakura recoiled. "EW NO! Where the fuck you got an idea like that? Seriously, ew."

Well ouch. A rejection was to be expected, just not so...visceral. "C'mon, it's not that bad."

"What makes you think I'd want to do it with you?"

"Nothin' really, but who said it had to be all sensual and shit. I'm asking you to try out an experiment."

"And I'll repeat my question again. What makes you think I'd want to do it with you?"

Hidan growled and downed his drink. "Whatever be like that, I don't care." He slipped off the stool and collected his scythe. Not sparing a glance her way, he exited the bar.

Oddly enough, it wounded him more than he expected. She didn't even want to think about it, just jumped straight to it being disgusting. Seriously, he wasn't disgusting - he had no problems getting attention or a quick fuck if he wanted to. What made her so special to think that he was below her? Stupid bitch.

xxx

He didn't see her for months. And it both infuriated and relieved him. Except for that one time when he'd seen her somewhere in Iwa. She hadn't been alone, two teammates with her. Usually during times like that, he left her alone, and this time was no exception. Partially he hoped that she'd ditch them just so they could settle things, though that didn't happen.

In due time, the hurt subsided and he had nearly thrown her out of his mind. He was back on track and Jashin was pleased with the amount of sacrifices he brought in.

It was a sunny, bright day with a soft wind. The perfect weather for some destruction and new sacrifices. The path under his boots was well travelled. Trees aligned it on both sides. Just up the staircase, at the top of a mountain, should be a temple. Nothing lifted his spirits like destroying a heretic temple.

There, he was minding his own business when something hit him in the back, strong enough that he flew across the path and straight into the staircase. Somebody just signed their death contract. Fucking asshole. He lifted himself out of the rubble, hand on his scythe, ready to dish out some ass kicking. "You messed with the wrong guy, fuckhead."

Hidan barely managed to stand when the asshole pushed him back down into the rubble. Unceremoniously, he fell, losing the grip on his scythe.

Sakura stood over him, face passive.

He should've known. The chances of a rando sneaking up on him like this were low. He cradled his head, seeing stars for a moment. "What the fuck is your problem?"

Before he could extract himself from the hole, she pushed him back with her hand. He was about to complain, but she sat down in his lap, roughly took his face in her hands and kissed him like the world was ending. Her lips were soft, yet harsh with their movements. And he was too shell-shocked to do anything.

When he propositioned her back in the bar, kissing hadn't been intended. Now when she was actually doing it, it would have been a shame to miss out on. With the same fervour, he returned it until her hands started to wander. Grabbing her by her hair, he pulled her off, confused. "What the hell?" That should've probably been his first reaction...

Sakura nibbled on her lip, squirming on him, yet her eyes were lacking the usual fire. "Devour me."

What kind of poetic bullshit was this? What made her change her mind?

Not that he minded the attention.

She leaned down again and, this time, he met her halfway. Yet it felt like there was something missing, like she was going through the motions and didn't actually mean it. She held onto the lapels of his jacket, pulling him out of the hole she had made, briefly breaking their lip lock. This time when he reached for another kiss, she stopped him. "I want to try it – that experiment of yours."

Sceptically, he eyed her, searching for any doubt in her face. "Why the change of heart?"

A grimace crossed her face and she frowned. "Do you really care?"

His knee-jerk reaction was to say no, but something else came out instead. "I guess I do."

She blinked, surprised, and he silently cursed himself. He kind of cared what she thought about him, he had to admit that to himself. But he didn't think he particularly cared about her well-being.

Sakura pursed her lips. "It doesn't matter."

And she descended back on to him, capturing his lips on her own, dictating the course of it. She ran her hands under his jacket just as she moved to nibble on the side of his jaw, gyrating her hips.

This bitch really was going for it, and the shit was working too.

Before she really could start getting into it and making the problem downstairs much worse, he gently pushed her off. "Wait, wait. We can't do this here."

Eyes hooded, she licked her lips, and – Jashin help him – he was going to lose what little cool he had. "I don't care about the temple being here."

He snorted. "Don't get me wrong, I don't give a shit either. But...maybe you want to destroy it together?"

Her little sinful hands drew circles across his chest sending tingles down his body while her eyes hardened. "I'm not going to destroy a temple, Hidan."

Something still seemed off about her. He could feel that it was her, the chakra signature was the same and yet it didn't feel like her. He placed his hands on her waist, pulling her closer. "Okay, just checking." Before he buried his head in the juncture of her neck and shoulder, biting and sucking hickeys across her skin. Not that he cared if she was right in the head or not.

She sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck. "So how does this work?"

Reluctantly, he receded, grinning like the cat that caught the canary. He gently pushed her off, as much as he didn't want to. "First, I wouldn't advise doin' anything in the open."

Sakura hummed seemingly, looking right through him. Something really was up with her, but he was afraid to ask and break the spell. "The temple is empty."

"It is?"

"Yeah, been abandoned for years."

Well, shit, he was hoping to destroy it and sacrifice some monks with that – Jashin always loved sacrifices like that. There goes that plan.

Sakura absent-mindedly drew small circles on his pectoral. It was kind of ticklish. He stilled her hand. "Let's go and defile a temple."

She sighed and rubbed her eye. "I really shouldn't. What am I even doing?"

"You're havin' fun. It 'ain't wrong to set loose every once in a while."

"But not with you." She grimaced and looked at him as if for the first time.

Hidan clenched his hands, so he didn't lash out at her. Here she was demeaning him again. "And what the fuck is wrong with me?"

"How about everything?"

Vexed and pissed, he pushed her completely off and she unceremoniously fell back on her ass. He knew this was too good to be true. She had some kind of fucking agenda.

"Fine. Go be a twat somewhere else. I'm tired of this shit."

She blinked, dumbstruck, mouth open.

He got up with a huff, stretching his back because damn the bitch could punch.

Sakura scrambled back to her feet, a grimace on her face. "You gotta understand from where I'm coming from, Hidan. You killed Asuma-sensei, you were a part of an organization that went after my friend. I can't just... forget things like that."

"Then why even seek me out, bitch? To make fun of me? To drag me around by my nose like an idiot? Well, here's your answer to that." And he flipped her the bird. "I'm done." He should've known better and left her alone a long time ago. This shit wasn't worth it. He was too pissed to even look at her dumb face and instead looked for his scythe.

"It's just..." Her voice was quiet, and he pretended not to pay attention to it.

Where is it? And the bitch ripped it off the cable, didn't she? That fucking blacksmith ripped him off and didn't reinforce enough like he asked, fucking tosser.

"...you made me feel desired."

He froze for a moment in his search and peered at her over his shoulder.

Her face was flushed, eyes pinned to the ground and hands curled in the bottom of her red dress. Suddenly she looked up, and he turned his head. "You think I didn't notice it before – the way you were looking at me at points, the fact that for the past couple of times we fought you were aroused."

Fuuuuck. She was way more attentive than he thought. He sighed. At least this proved that she wasn't entirely repulsed by him – she had just been too hung up over him killing her friends to really do anything. Small silver linings.

"A-and…" Her voice shook with barely restrained nerves. "No one's looked at me like that before, especially while I'm fighting. Tamaki said I'm too brutish, too bossy, too foul. He said that it was unnatural for me to be stronger than him, that no one would ever like someone like me."

Hidan sighed again, this time running a hand down his face. He wasn't qualified to deal with this shit, he absolutely did not sign up for this. And hey, there was his scythe, lodged in some berry bushes.

Sakura stood meekly, fidgeting in her spot loudly.

Scythe retrieved, he sneered at her and she jolted. "Sort out your shit before you come looking for me next time."

Sakura hung her head dejectedly.

"And kill that Tamaki wanker." He didn't wait for her answer before he got the fuck out of there as fast as he could. Last thing he needed to see was her crying over something so stupid.

xxx

For three blissful days, he was alone, which, in retrospect, wasn't such a good thing. The last conversation with Sakura kept replaying in his mind, and with nothing to distract him, he was stuck in his mind. Stupid bitch.

Why was he even so hung up over her? She wasn't the first one to beat his ass to the ground, though she was the first one he found attractive. Which probably was the root of the problem. Here he goes for years without developing feelings of that kind, and then she just barges right in with her fists of fury and attitude to match. It was probably why he liked her so much – she didn't take his insults laying down and dissed as good as she got.

People hardly ever entertained his shit-talk, like it was part of the fun of fighting, yet most were hell-bent on being all serious and total wet blankets. And it seemed like she got that. Why else would she come back so many times if she wasn't having fun? He certainly avoided all the wankers that were no fun at all.

That evening he came across a small village. He wasn't sure in which country, since he'd been wandering aimlessly for three days, but it looked a lot like Land of Fire. Mood too sour to really get up to mischief, he went to the nearest food joint and ordered some food.

Hidan picked the first thing on the menu, which just happened to be a bowl of ramen. After days of no food, even the cheap ramen tasted good. And it was a nice distraction from the mess in his head.

His bowl was almost empty, when his blissful peace got disturbed by someone sitting at the opposite side of his table. He was about to give them a piece of his mind before he saw that it was Sakura. Still, he gave her a piece of his mind. "Fuck off, cunt."

She set her own bowl of ramen on the table, a blank look on her face. As if he'd said nothing at all, she split her chopsticks and dug in. The bitch had officially gone mad.

He considered switching tables, seeing as the place was nearly deserted, but he was no bitch and the last thing he wanted to do was run from her. "Alright, I'll bite. What do you want?"

Before slurping her noodles, she looked at him. "You." She ate like all was right in the world. Seriously, what the fuck?

"Nuh-huh, I 'ain't playin' this game with you again. Find another dumbass to drag around." Fuck pride, he was switching tables. There wasn't enough time in the day to deal with her bullshit.

"I'm serious this time, Hidan." She had put down her chopsticks and laced her fingers under her chin. "I wanna do it. I'm interested."

He eyed her sceptically. She looked different this time. Gone was the red dress and what he assumed was her usual shinobi gear. Instead, she wore a simple strappy red shirt with a black skirt and her hair was pulled back into a small ponytail, strands of hair framing her face. There was more focus in her eyes, and she seemed more composed.

"And why should I believe you?"

Suddenly, she looked away in a total one-eighty, a blush staining her cheeks. "I really shouldn't, but I like you."

He blinked, watching as she turned shades redder. Well, shit. What does he say to that?

"Thanks." Apparently that.

She snapped her head up, eyes huge. "I mean it. I don't know why, but you make me feel different, like I'm powerful and desirable. I like feeling like that."

Hidan leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms and leering down at her. "Is that so?"

Sakura pouted, puffing her cheeks. "Stop that."

He chuckled. "After you treated me like dirt? Not a chance."

She huffed. "I'm sorry, okay, but you did deserve it, you can't blame me for that."

Jashin help him. He murdered just some of her friends, it's not like he went after her personally... Well, not back then he didn't, and he didn't think the last year counted. He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm outta here." He pushed his chair back, picking up his bowl of ramen. He paid for that shit, he 'ain't leaving it unfinished.

"You can't be serious?"

He sneered at her. "As serious as I can be, sweetheart. I'm done with your bullshit."

"You're such a dick!" she hissed.

"And you're not getting this dick."

Sakura suddenly got up as well, nearly toppling over her bowl, still red in the face, though it was hard to tell if it was because of embarrassment or anger. A mean sneer was on her face, hands balled up.

The few people that were there eyed them like a spectacle. And he just didn't give a single fuck anymore. Slurping the noodles, he made his way out of the joint.

Footsteps approached him from the behind. He didn't get any further before he was sent stumbling through the door, taking it with him. The bowl of ramen shattered in his hands. That bitch just kicked him in the back. Again. Snarling, he extended his spear and rushed her.

She parried his blow with his own scythe that he'd forgotten to take with him in his anger. Fucking hell.

"The fuck is wrong with you?"

Civilians and bystanders split, gasping and screaming when Sakura walked out of the food joint, scythe poised in front. The few shinobi around eyed them suspiciously, keeping a safe distance.

Sakura sneered and swung his scythe, and he had to jump back to avoid the swing. "Fight me, pussy."

This cocky bitch, attacking him with his weapon and calling him a pussy.

Her hold of the scythe was a bit awkward and while she had no problems with the weight of the weapon (seriously, he was jealous how easily she seemed to wield it) she had no clue how to use it. One of the perks of fighting with an odd weapon – people hardly were able to use it against him. Although, right now, he was in a bit of a tricky situation. The scythe was attached to a cable that was connected to him. She could lasso him around like a ragdoll if she wanted to. And he couldn't figure out why the hell the notion turned him on.

She advanced on him with the scythe.

He blocked the swing with the spear. The blow was strong enough to make him lose his balance and stumble back. He needed to get closer to her – the scythe was less effective up close.

Sakura was no fool though and kept the scythe posed in front of her like a shield each time he tried to get closer. His efforts only resulted in her turning the blade each time, nicking and cutting him.

Fuck this shit. He took the cable and yanked on it.

As he expected, Sakura stumbled, almost losing her grip of the scythe. Sakura snarled and yanked the scythe back, and the cord just extended instead.

He grinned. She didn't know shit about his weapon; she wasn't even using it correctly. "Tough luck, bitch. It's my weapon you're using, I know it like the back of my hand." Yanking on the cable again, he poised his spear forward, and nearly missed her head when she stumbled forward again.

Sakura jumped back and swung the scythe, yanking on the cord along with the swing. And this time it pulled him into her hitting range, cutting him across his arm.

Fuck, she was smarter than he thought and might have realized that he controlled the scythe with his chakra.

She swung again, and he dodged it at the last moment, sneaking past her guard and punching her in the gut. Sakura wheezed, floundering.

Hidan grinned like a maniac. It was rare he got such clear hits on her. She was good at keeping up her guard when she didn't use weapons or stuck with small ones like a kunai and shuriken – not so good anymore with his scythe in hand. And that made him happy – she was so pissed that she'd go as far as to handicap herself unintentionally.

"You filthy cocksucker." She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, eyes pure fire. Her next attack came with a roar of anger, scythe coming down to deliver a vicious blow.

The few villagers, which had stayed around to watch the spectacle, scattered when the swing cut into a news' stand. Papers flew everywhere. A few shinobi stood on the side, weapons drawn. No one dared to interrupt them, though.

He'd be lying if he said that he wasn't having fun. The hot sun overhead, the warm breeze, the way the villagers screamed, the way Sakura panted from exertion, her hair a mess. It was wonderful and just the type of chaos he was looking for.

They exchanged many hits like this – a swing from Sakura, a stab from him, a sneaky taijutsu move thrown in for some spice. And Sakura was getting more and more destructive with each hit, hacking buildings, leaving gouges in the ground. He was surprised that his scythe was able to withstand all of it, especially the cable after his haphazard fix.

Sakura parried another jab from his spear with the scythe, a deep set frown on her face. "I fucking hate feeling like this. Do you think I wanted to like you, to be attracted to a frickin' murderer?" she spat, swinging wildly with a fist and nearly catching him in the chin.

He created a distance between them.

She continued. "I feel disgusted with myself just for kissing you. Like, what the fuck is wrong with me?"

It was jarring how much it echoed his exact feelings. He laughed, lowering his spear. "Isn't this just hilarious."

Sakura furrowed her brows, but didn't lower her weapon.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think that someone was fucking with us."

"What the hell are you blabbering about?"

"Feeling's mutual, sweetheart." He wouldn't be surprised if it was Jashin fucking with him in some twisted sense of revenge for skirting his duties for half a decade. "Did you seriously think that I'd want someone like you? A stupid Konoha shinobi? Fuck that noise. I don't need anyone...and yet..."

They circled each other, eyes pinned, bodies tense. In their fight, they had moved out of the village's boundaries and into a more woodsy area. Small bushes and trees no older than a couple years surrounded them. A few modest shacks lined the forest in the distance.

All of a sudden, she threw the scythe at him.

Hidan twisted out of the way just in the nick of time. But her throw was powerful, and the cord yanked him back with the weapon. He and the scythe crashed into a wooden shack full of forestry instruments. Sharp tools and wood toppled all over him. A string of curses fell past his lips. An axe had nicked him in the leg, drawing blood.

Sakura barged into the shack with a furious burst of the door.

He had very little time to gather himself and pick up his scythe. Before she could attack with her fists of fury, he pushed her back with the handle of his scythe until she hit the opposite wall.

She wrapped her hands around the handle, glaring death at him, her jaw set.

Fuck, watching her move around with his weapon, fight with fury in her eyes and such deep passion made his pants tighter. She looked hot as fuck with her hair dishevelled, cheeks pink.

"You should have stayed in the fucking ground." She ground out through her teeth.

"And you should have learned to stay in one sodding place." He bit back, pushing a bit more on the scythe.

She sneered and pushed back on the scythe, though not strong enough to budge him. Her hands were pinned to her chest by the scythe. Both of their knuckles were white from the effort of keeping it in place.

He was so close to her he could smell the sweat on her, feel her breath on his face. His mind flashed back to three days ago when she'd kissed him, and Jashin help him, he wanted to feel her soft lips against his again so fucking badly. As if tempting him, she bit on her bottom lip, and fuck it all, he went for it.

Sakura pressed her lips in a thin line, refusing to react. He coaxed her with his tongue to relax and open her mouth. Their grip on the scythe loosened until it fell on the ground with a dull thud. Her hands went to his cheeks, fingers digging in his skin while he pulled her closer by her waist. There was so much hate in that kiss and need. Shit, she actually meant it this time.

Until Sakura shoved him away, panting, a nasty sneer on her face. "I fucking hate you so much."

Hidan laughed maliciously. "I wish that you'd drop dead."

Then, in unison, they were upon each other again, kissing roughly and biting each other on purpose, teeth clacking. She wound her hands in his hair, pulling on the strands, and he gripped her in a bruising grip by her waist.

He moved from her lips and left bites down her jaw and neck, soothing them with his tongue.

Sakura yanked harder on his hair, cursed and leaned into his touch and wandering hands, accidentally brushing against his dick with her thigh.

He shuddered and cursed, pushing his hands under her shirt. Fucking hell, he had never been so aroused in his life. The shit this little bitch did to him.

Suddenly, she pushed him back harshly, and he crashed into the opposite wall with a crack of the wood, saw dust raining down on him. With the frown on her face, he expected her to punch him. Instead, she kissed him again while fumbling with the front of his pants.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. He got the message and helped her with the button and the zipper, briefly breaking their lip lock. When her dainty fingers wrapped around his cock, he groaned, head hitting the wall.

She kissed him again, nipping at his lips and hand slowly stroking him.

Hidan sunk his fingers in her hair, freeing it from the hair tie, angled her roughly and deepened the kiss, tongue meshing with hers.

Sakura pulled back, removing her hand, and he almost whined from the loss. He blinked dumbly while she stepped out the shorts she had underneath her skirt. Not soon after that she jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him without abandon. He barely got time to react and prepare for the sudden onslaught of Sakura.

Holding her up by her thighs, he rolled them around, pressing her back against the rough wood. Her nails dug into his shoulders as he peppered small nips and bites on the side of her jaw, hands sliding to grope her naked ass.

She rocked against him, moaning, and snaked her hands under his jacket, dragging her nails over the naked flesh there.

Random curse words fell from his lips, and fuck he needed her, he needed to feel her, be inside her. He pressed into her just trying to feel the curves of her body, rocking against her. Little moans slipped past her lips, and shit, he could feel the heat of her. He pulled back enough to slip a hand between their bodies. Sakura moaned louder when his fingers slid over her slick pussy. Now that was something he wanted to hear more of.

He rubbed her clit in small circles, watching as her body tensed and her eyes screwed shut in pleasure. She bit on her lip, letting her head rest against the wall. And what a pretty picture she made – hair mussed, lips dark pink from his abuse, chest heaving from her heavy pants. He retracted his hand to position himself against her, rubbing the head of his dick against her slit. She was still rocking against him, practically begging for his cock, and who was he to refuse her.

When he finally sunk into her, he groaned into her shoulder. Fuck, she was so warm and wet, and she was squeezing him so damn tightly. She urged him to move with her hips, hands fisting in his jacket. Hidan chuckled, a crude comment about her thirst for his cock at the tip of his tongue when she just started moving on her own, rocking against him, using his shoulders as leverage. And all intents of being a cocky bastard flew out of his mind.

Hands on her thighs, he matched her movements, finding the right rhythm they both liked. He'd been fantasizing about fucking her for months now and, hell, his fantasy had nothing on the real thing. The real thing was much more ferocious and warm, so, so warm.

Sakura pulled him by his hair for a kiss, and she was not gentle. This was something he hadn't thought to be true, that she'd enjoy being like this, that she'd want this as much as he did. She bit him hard enough to nearly draw blood, and he moaned into her mouth. It was like she knew exactly what he would like, like she could read his mind and scratch, bite and squeeze him just at the right moment.

She bit him again, and this time it stung, and he groaned. The mix of pain and pleasure made him lose his rhythm. It probably had been an accident for she drew back, looking at him with lustful yet shocked eyes, lips stained red.

Still, he kissed her again, sucking on her red lip, the familiar taste of copper on his tongue. His hand was starting to cramp from holding her up, and he silently had to curse his body for betraying him like that. A high-pitched moan slipped past her lips when he hoisted her up higher, her hands wounding into his hair and pulling on the strands. Fuck, he won't last much longer if she'll continue to squeeze him like this. The fucking muscles on her, damn, she was practically pulling him in.

She was throwing him for a loop. The part of him that was depraved and horny as hell had hoped she'd be all this, that she'd be a hot hate fuck. The other more rational side had been hoping for something lacklustre, for something to just get her out of his system. But here he was utterly fucking lost in her – in the green of her eyes, the little sounds she made.

Before his hand could cramp again, he pressed into her, grunting and trusting her to keep herself upright, he freed one of his arms. Making sure she was looking at him, he leaned back a bit and smirked, snaking his hand between their bodies. Sakura gasped when he rubbed her clit in tight little circles, her body arching into him. The angle of his hand was awkward, and he switched tactics. Taking hold of her again, he pounded into her harder.

Sakura came with a sudden cry, squeezing and fluttering around him, nails digging into his skin.

He cursed, slowing down to let her ride it out. His hand was cramping – again, goddammit – and he rushed to reach his own release.

She combed her hands through his hair just as he bit into her naked shoulder, muffling his release.

He stayed like that for a moment, enjoying the warm and fuzzy bliss of afterglow. Hidan lifted his head up, heavy breaths mingling with hers, searching her face for...he didn't know what… For disgust? Bliss? Hatred? None of it was there, and he let her down back on her feet before she could change her mind about the whole ordeal and slap him into the next century. He stepped back, shaking out the tingles from his arm.

Sakura stood on shaky legs until she gave up and sat down, back leaning against the wall.

Hidan sat on the opposite side, righting his pants and raking a hand through his mussed hair.

The shed was a mess of tools, firewood and splinters. Half of the shed was destroyed from where he had fallen through it. A soft breeze tickled his damp skin. Birds chirped in the distance and mild chatter from the town flew in.

The usual clarity that had plagued him for the past month didn't come. He expected to feel disgusted with himself for touching her, for enjoying fucking her. Instead, looking at her rumpled and flushed form, he wanted to do it all over again. It was…

"So what was it about not getting your dick?" Her tone was light, teasing.

He frowned, hands clenching, angry with himself for letting it happen after he said that he wouldn't and for wishing it would happen again. "Oh, shut up before I choke you."

She pouted. "Please don't threaten me with a good time."

Hidan stared at her for a couple of seconds. Did he just fuck her brains out or something? He wasn't against it, but damn, she totally did not look the type to be into that kind of thing. "You're way more fucked in the head than I thought."

Sakura scrunched her face in distaste and then sighed, thumping her head against the wall. "Yeah, you're probably right. I sought out you after all."

And there she was, back on that again.

"You're such a fucking cunt."

She laughed. "And you're a murdering asshole, so I guess we're even."

He grit his teeth until… "Whatever. I'm outta here. Don't come looking for me again." He didn't have the energy to deal with her bullshit. His scythe was buried under a pile of firewood and he moved to retrieve it. He hissed, all the little marks Sakura left on him stung and had yet to heal.

Sakura snorted. "Like I'd do that again. Please, I have better things to do."

Yeah, he ran from there before he got into another fight with her because seriously; she was asking for it and he did NOT want a repeat of what had happened… Maybe that was a bold-faced lie, but he wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of being right or getting the upper hand on him again so soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to post the second part of this later in February (27th).
> 
> Also, please feed me with your generous feedback. It's the best food any writer can get.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, many thanks to the wonderful Seth's Kiss for beta reading and helping me polish this off. Also, a huge thank you to everyone who left me feedback. You guys rock and feed my inner attention hoe!
> 
> btw the title of this story is a song from Mayhem. It's another nod to black metal and how I heacanoned back in Bad Reputation that Hidan is a black metal fan because y'know his ritual look looks a lot like corpse paint.

That encounter happened about a week before they came across each other again. It came with a slew of accusations of searching out the other, but of course she wouldn't admit to it. Like hell he'd go looking for her.

Just like all the previous times they had started out with foul insults, and damn, he should stop provoking her to use such language, because the stuff she said...fuck. Sakura didn't beat around the bush much after that and had attacked him. It was nothing out of the ordinary, same old dance, until he'd caught them in the same position as before.

She'd said something about him being a pain in the dick, and it had been so on point that he'd laughed, because yes she was a major pain in the dick both literally and figuratively.

Sakura had gotten more furious, leading her to attempt an attack, but had only left herself open for a perfect sucker punch. Except he'd been the sucker for thinking that she'd attempted an attack. She'd totally blind-sided him by going in for a kiss. It was clumsy, and they had knocked their noses together so hard tears sprung to his eyes, and she totally missed. Yet she prevailed and kissed her way to his lips, latching her hands on to the lapels of his jacket.

She had been demanding and had fucked him right there in the forest clearing. And shit, maybe she wasn't just a stupid Konoha kunoichi with a penchant to be the bane of his existence. Maybe she was something much more than that.

It continued like that for a month, with random encounters that ended in insults and a quickie, with Sakura always trying to control everything. And it irritated him beyond belief. She talked the big talk about how he was the scum under her shoe, about how she hated his guts…yet she was nearly always the first one to start things between them.

He thought that after the first few times the novelty of fucking her would have worn off, but the gods were against him and he was eagerly anticipating the next time they would meet. Fucking hell, he got hard just thinking about her – her smell, her mouth, her perky little tits. It was stupid. Why was she affecting him like that? He had never cared about his conquests after the initial lay, but with Sakura...he just couldn't resist.

Sakura matched him beat for beat and it drove him wild. Because it wasn't often he came across a woman that was willing to fight him like this and didn't scrunch her nose in distaste at his language.

He wasn't even sure anymore if they just gravitated towards each other or was she searching for him each time. Okay, maybe he searched her out a couple of times as well. She was becoming harder to track, but all he had to do was keep a lookout for a possible, unsolvable medical crisis in a village, and it was about 50/50 chance that Sakura was there.

Bitch was seriously nuts to travel all those distances just to cure some tuberculosis on an old man. A serious saviour complex. She was ready to sacrifice her own well-being and time just to travel all the way to the other side of Land of Earth to solve a case of mysterious diseases in bumfuck nowhere.

Travelling for him was easy, it was how he had been living most of his life. Except now when he was an ex-Akatsuki member, he assumed by now that someone with his skill description would have ended up in the Bingo books. That was not the case, he had no hitai-ate, and he tended to not leave survivors behind and thus, he'd avoided the pleasure of being in the book.

Sakura apparently hadn't said anything either. For all he knew, some of her friends might still believe that he was three meters underground and dead. He hadn't asked her if she had spilled the beans either, figured that she wouldn't, especially now when they'd been going at it. If they knew though, only better. Maybe the spiky-haired one will finally come after him and he can get in his revenge, right and proper.

xxx

This time, they ran into each other in an inn, within a random village in Land of Grass. He had actually been looking for her with an idea in mind. They rarely came across each other indoors like this, so it was a legit surprise for both of them.

Sakura sighed, tilting her head. "I'm in no mood to deal with you today, buzz off." She waved her hand flippantly, intending to pass him in the corridor.

He latched onto her upper arm. "No can do, sweetheart, we have business to do."

She ripped her herself from his hand, frowning. "Not interested."

Hidan grinned, stepping in her way. The corridor was narrow and, unless she bodily removed him, she wouldn't be able to pass. "I'm gonna teach you how to have fun." She blinked. "We're gonna go out and destroy some shit."

She crossed her arms and jutted out her hip in annoyance. "Whatever gave you the idea that I'd want to hang out with you?"

He had to restrain himself from hitting her. He was here to help her out, not get into a fight. And obviously she was dead set on being a nuisance and testing his patience. "Oh, piss off with that bullshit of yours! Be honest with yourself for once – you want me as much as I want you."

Sakura scoffed and glared at the painting on the wall like it was offending her with its splay of still life. But she didn't rebuke his statement.

Finally, some progress.

"Okay, I have some spare time to kill. What do you have in mind?"

Now that, was absolutely delicious progress. His smile turned positively devilish. Without answering her, he took her hand and dragged her out of the building. It was windy and warm outside, yet the village was sparse with people.

"Why do I get the feeling that I won't like your brand of fun?" she grumbled.

"Probably because you have a tendency to bitch about everything."

"I do not."

She was pouting and quite adorably so.

He chuckled. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Hidan led them out of the village and into a meadow, it was early autumn and many of the meadow flowers had already overgrown. He hadn't planned out what he wanted to do much apart from getting Sakura out and letting her go to town on some boulders and trees. Except they were in Land of Grass – a country that was all plains and fucking grass. Great, he was an idiot.

Sakura, for her part, was surprisingly compliant and hadn't even retracted her hand from his, obediently following him. Yeah, he beter focus on the task at hand rather than her sudden compliance, otherwise it might give him ideas. Ideas that weren't all that innocent in nature.

"So where are we going?"

"Ah ah, I can't give away the surprise, now can I?"

"I hate surprises," she grumbled.

He didn't like them either, but it was fun watching her face twist in all these forms of displeasure and practically squirm in his hold.

In the end, he had to switch around his original plan because of fucking grass, but whatever. They had wandered far enough from the village that they had reached a nearby river. The waters were relatively calm and didn't look too deep or dangerous.

Sakura observed the rushing water for a while before extracting her hand, and he had to bite down the wave of disappointment at the loss of her heat.

He threw down his scythe and removed the cable belt. "We're going for a swim."

"What? But I thought you said-"

"I know what I said. I changed my mind now. I wanna go for a swim."

She scowled. "No need to act like such a child."

He removed his jacket. "Just shut up and get naked."

"I am not going to-"

"And before you act like a prude, remember that it's nothing I haven't seen already or touched." He revelled in how flushed her face got – whether it was from anger or embarrassment, it still was a win in his book.

"This is different!"

Hidan sighed and sat down to remove his sandals. "Leave your underwear on or whatever, just get into the water. That stick isn't going to extract itself from your ass."

She wanted to argue – he could see it in her face that got much redder. However, she kept her mouth shut instead and sat down to remove her own sandals.

He probably was pushing her a bit too much. One wrong thing said and she would leave, though this was for her own good. While she put up this annoyed facade, it was clear there were heavy bags under her eyes and that her movements were slower than usual. She'd been overworking herself, something he found she did quite often. It also made her act more like a bitch than usual.

Without sparing a second glance her way to check if she was complying, he stripped the last of his clothes and stepped into the slightly chilly water. The water was only about chest deep, but it was enough to wade through. It had been a while since he'd last stepped into water just to swim. Usually it was purely for functional reasons. Mindlessly swimming through was another thing, and it was sort of relaxing. The exact thing Sakura needed right now.

He laid back in the water, floating, watching Sakura undress. She removed way more clothes than he had expected. She had only left her underwear on. With hands covering her chest, she tentatively stepped into the water, shivering. He grinned when she stepped in deeper; the water reaching her collarbones.

"Now what?"

"You float and relax."

"Why?"

"Because you need it."

She eyed him weirdly, and he tried not to focus on what it really meant. They had been at each other's throats for months, and he had gotten pretty good at telling when she was getting annoyed and wanted to punch him in the nose. This look of hers was somewhere between that and something else he couldn't decipher. Instead of dwelling on it any longer, he swam for a bit and then let the stream carry him.

"This is stupid. Why did I agree to this?" The water splashed as she fiercely turned around, set on making her way out and away.

He quickly caught up to her, latching onto her arm. "Hey now, don't get hasty."

She ripped her arm free. "This isn't helping."

"Well, yeah, because you're not letting yourself relax."

"The world will burn before I let myself relax around you," she spat.

Hidan exhaled slowly, trying to keep a calm mind. She was trying to pick a fight and as much as he'd enjoy it; it wasn't what she needed.

She waded out of the water, almost at the shore now.

"Sakura?"

The use of her name made her pause and turn his way, just like he intended. An ugly sneer was on her face. "What?"

"I'd hate to say this, but that "bitch act" has grown old. I 'ain't gonna bite ya or anything...unless you ask. Thought we already established this."

"No, we didn't. You have been trying to kill me for nearly a year."

"Well, I suppose I changed my mind. I haven't been trying to kill you for a while now."

She blinked. "And I'm supposed to believe that."

He sneered, at the end of his patience. "Believe it or not, but if I wanted to, I could have speared you dead months ago. You're not as powerful as you think. Just because you got the best of me while I was still recovering, doesn't mean that I'm a pushover."

Sakura scoffed and crossed her arms. She had completely forgotten that she was naked and had stepped out of the water, revealing everything above the waist. Fuck, she really did have some nice tits, but he better focus back on her face before she noticed it and punched him. "But you're still a mass-murdering asshole."

He chuckled. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, sweetheart. But you still want me."

One moment, he was laughing and the next she was on him, punching him in the nose. He fell back into the water. Surprisingly enough, his nose didn't sustain any damage. "The fuck?"

She had her fist posed for another punch. "I do not!"

Hidan backhanded her across the face before she could swing at him. "Why do you have to act like such a twat?"

Sakura recovered from the slap, face red, teeth clenched. "Why do you have to be such a dick?" She waded through the water, suddenly lunging at him. She wasn't even going for a punch as much as she was trying to claw his eyes out.

He tried to fend off her hands, at least away from his face. "You even fight like a dumb bitch." One hit struck true, and he winced.

"Shuddup!" She swung, but the swing was sloppy and she missed, losing her balance.

They had backed away deep enough that she had troubles moving. It was kind of funny how hard she was trying to fight, especially when it was obvious that she didn't have the energy for it.

Hidan pushed her back by her shoulders, making her wade awkwardly to keep her balance. "What's the matter, Sakura? Can't hold your own? Too tired to even hit?"

She growled – actually growled – and leaped out of the water. That he hadn't expected. She landed on him, submerging him underwater. He yanked her arm, and she went underwater with him. They wrestled, trying to keep each other under water, bubbles flying everywhere. He was done playing nice and wasn't above using underhanded tactics on her – pulling on her hair and trying to poke her in the eye. It was stupid, but Sakura herself seemed adamant to try to knee him in the groin in return.

Eventually he let her surface, just because he knew that she'd die from the lack of air. And letting her die wasn't on his to-do-list, no matter what she wanted to believe.

He breached the surface just as she did, another demeaning line on the tip of his tongue. All of it died before it could even pass his lips, as Sakura closed the short distance between them and kissed him, all fire and anger.

Why was it that whenever they fought she was nearly always the first one to go for a kiss?

Looping a hand around her body, he pulled her closer, nipping at her lips. He moaned when her pebbled nipples brushed against his chest, and her hands wrapped around his neck.

Fuck, she was on the fast track for another quickie, rubbing herself against him, doing sinful things with her tongue. No doubt she got off on their fighting. The kinky bitch. Which reminded him...

He pulled away with great difficulty.

Sakura immediately trailed down his cheek and neck with soft nips and bites, her hand wandering down his chest.

"Wanna try to do this differently?"

She paused to look at him, almost offended that he had broken the spell by speaking. They usually didn't speak when they fucked. It kind of just happened to be like that. He usually was very vocal and sometimes even annoying with how much he spoke.

But with Sakura it felt more natural to just go with the flow and keep his silence, in case she suddenly left him high and dry only because he said something stupid.

He didn't wait for her response, knowing that if he did, it would probably would be something like calling him a dick. Pulling her closer, he looped his hands around her midriff to carry her out of her river.

Sakura squeaked and latched onto him, but before she could open her mouth and protest, he kissed her again, muffling her words. She was fighting him, biting him and trying to pull away. When he finally allowed her to speak, she was scowling. "Asshole." He grinned and set her down. She stood on shaky legs, entire body trembling. Whether it was the cold or desire, Hidan wasn't sure.

"Trust me, this is gonna be much more fun than your usual fuck." She opened her mouth. "Just shut up for once and follow your feelings, Sakura."

Hugging herself, she turned her back to him, mumbling. "That's what I'm afraid of doing."

The woman had some issues, but he had no clue if it was about him being the alleged bad guy or it was because of her poncy friends again. He was in no capacity to deal with her emotional issues, so he just picked up the first closest article of clothing, and shoved it in her hands.

"Get dressed, we're going back to the inn. And don't even think about complaining." It was alarming how much that had become second nature to him, and it shouldn't be like that. Sakura needed to let loose.

She grumbled something under her breath before she turned back to him. "Ugh, fine. You're not gonna stop pestering me, anyway."

A pleased grin stretched across his lips. He might finally be breaking through to her. Maybe this day won't be a total fail.

Both of them hastily got dressed and trekked back towards the inn, with Sakura following his lead. He kept checking periodically to see if she hadn't ditched. He could never know with her. Fair enough, sometimes he ghosted her too, but lately Sakura had taken it up as her MO.

When they reached the inn, the receptionist gave them odd looks at their wet and rumpled forms. He threw the lady a cheeky grin and continued leading Sakura up to his room, absolutely giddy with excitement. It wasn't everyday he got her to agree with his ideas. Hell, most of the time they were arguing anyway, and suggesting something different was out of the question.

The last time he suggested trying Jashin's jujutsu for some fun, she rejected it harshly and he hadn't brought it up again. Then Sakura had brought it up out of the blue at the temple, but she hadn't been feeling alright. But now...now Sakura seemed to be in an agreeable mood. And trying the experiment again, after all this time, with someone he more or less trusted, was something he always had wanted to do.

Hidan unlocked the door to his room and let Sakura enter first, before he closed the door after him. It was dim inside – he'd pulled the curtains closed as soon as he'd settled in. It was a pretty stark room consisting of only a bed, a table, a chair and another painting of still life on the wall. But it was to be expected from a small village that hardly ever got visitors.

Sakura hung around the door while he dumped his stuff on the floor near the bed. "What now?" She crossed her arms, seemingly making herself appear smaller.

Tentatively, he approached her, and she flinched when he was close enough to be in her personal space. "Do you trust me?"

"Is that a trick question?" She eyed him oddly.

He rolled his eyes. This woman was impossible. "Just answer the question."

She nibbled on her lip, looking anywhere but at him. "Not particularly, but against my better judgement, I do trust you at this moment."

He nodded. "Good." And smiled devilishly. "Good, because your life is going to be on the line."

"What?" She looked up at him, eyes huge.

"Relax. I'm joking." She did relax a bit, but not by much. "Partially."

Sakura slapped his arm. "Stop fucking around already!"

"Okay, okay." He tried to placate her, stepping back. Truth was, he was kind of nervous himself. It had been years since he last fiddled around with the jujutsu. And once he figured it out, he hadn't changed anything since. "My sacrificial jujutsu can have different effects."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that it can transfer touch, and not just injury." She blinked. He sighed. "Lemme just show you then." He removed his jacket.

"Wait, wait. Is this some kind of sneaky way of trying to kill me?"

"Fuck. No! I don't want to hurt you. I want to make you feel good." And that had just slipped out, and the truth of it surprised him just as much as Sakura. He turned warm in the face all the way down to his neck. He cleared his throat. "I mean, let me show you what I mean. It's nothing awful, I promise. As long as I don't injure myself fatally, you're going to be fine."

Sakura didn't relax, but this time when he came closer, she didn't flinch. He removed his rosary, put it around Sakura and stepped away for a moment. She stared back at him with huge eyes.

Seeing her with his rosary around her... He bit his lip. Better not go down that road, lest he started wishing for something that would never happen.

Hidan pulled out a kunai from his pouch, and Sakura's eyes immediately strayed to it. "Now I'll need a drop of your blood." He held out his hand expectantly. She of course was hesitant, eyes glued to the kunai, until she, very slowly, placed her hand in his.

It was a quick nick across a finger, and she grimaced slightly. He made brief eye contact with her, almost as if asking for her permission. She didn't move, and he took that as his cue to put her finger in his mouth. It wasn't the first time he'd ingested her blood, but damn. This time it tasted different and much more potent. It was just the starting phase, yet he already felt the anticipation and nerves grow.

When he locked eyes with her again while returning her hand to her, she was pink in the face.

"Next – the hand seals." He slowly went through the three necessary ones for her to copy him.

Sakura scrunched her brows. "Don't you need to activate the jutsu?"

"Well, yes, but in order for it to be a two-way street you need to do it too." At least, he assumed so. Across the years he had done a lot of fuckups, and there was that one time when he'd accidentally linked his body with the victim in a way that it had transferred only touch. It had been an interesting experience. The rosary and hand seals were additions to his ritual/jutsu to ensure it worked on him too, though it was a stretch. Sakura wasn't a follower of Jashin and wasn't planning on being one. Still, it wouldn't hurt to try. He was curious to know what it felt like to be on the other side.

He stepped back, thinking back on what was the next step and coming up mite blank. "Imma be honest, I don't entirely remember how it went exactly."

"Yeah, I noticed." The sarcasm was thick in her voice.

"I'm trying, okay? It's been fucking years and I don't want to fuck this up."

Sakura sighed. "Alright, what's next? Do I need to ingest some of your blood as well?"

"I don't think so, no. The rosary and you doing hand seals are just extras I made up on the spot." Uncertainly, he scratched his head, and Sakura didn't comment. "Okay, I think the next thing I did was draw the circle on myself."

She raised her eyebrows. "That's different."

"Yeah. Back then, I had no clue what I was doing."

"Very much like now."

"Har har, laugh it up. But when it works, you'll be writhing under my touch."

"Very confident of you there." She smirked, crossing her arms.

"This coming from someone who was shaking like a leaf just a few moments ago." He returned her expression.

Sakura sighed, relaxing. "I am scared, okay? You're trying to enable me in your killing jutsu, promising that it won't kill me. I'm just being cautious."

He nicked his finger with the kunai, drawing up enough blood. "And it's a promise I don't intend to break." Shit, how did he do it back then? Drawing upside down on himself? With an unsteady hand, he started drawing the circle.

"Ugh, alright." She stepped up and took his wrist in her hand. Curiously, he regarded her. "You're making a mess." She scrunched her nose and guided his hand, drawing the circle and triangle. Then she stepped back. "Now what? Do I finally go through the hand seals?"

Hidan admired their joint effort (and surprisingly enough, it was really good) before meeting her eyes. "Yes, at the same time. Just a warning that this will activate it differently from normal."

"Different how?"

"Less skeletal features." He motioned to his face. "It was a halfway cock-up, that's why it activated differently."

Sakura swallowed and lifted her hands, not able to hide the slight shake of them. She placed them in the first seal and nodded.

This felt like a dream. Sakura going along with his insane ideas was definitely like something he would dream up at night. He licked his lips; the nerves getting to him as well. It posed very little danger to him, yet it could be very dangerous for Sakura. Something could go wrong and she could die. He hoped that with the rosary around her, Jashin would see it as a sign to spare her. "Hoped" being the keyword here. Fuck, why was it so much easier when he'd been fucking around by himself?

He got his hands into position and nodded to her. They executed the hand seals in unison. The tingly sensation of the jujutsu activating overtook him as always, except less intense. The queasiness hit him afterwards, and he almost stumbled. That was new.

"Is it working?" Sakura was flexing her fingers until she looked up at him and her eyes widened.

He peered down at his arm and just as he suspected, the white bone markings were there sans the black skin. "I dunno, you tell me." Just as a test, he pinched himself on the arm.

Sakura grimaced, observing her hands. "I don't feel any different."

Hidan wouldn't be surprised if it didn't work at all. It was a miracle that he even activated it at all and didn't have it blow up in his face, though the slight nausea was a good indication of it not being right.

There was a considerable distance between them and that needed to be fixed, if only because touching her might take his mind off of wanting to spew his guts all over the floor. "C'mere." He yanked her to him and she gasped in surprise.

"I felt that." She fell into him, nearly knocking him back on the bed.

"What?"

She pinched him sharply on the shoulder.

"Yeow. The hell?" He briefly released her to rub the spot she pinched, pouting.

"See? I only feel it when I do it."

Experimentally, he pinched her back, and she recoiled in surprise, incredulous. "Just checking if it works the same for me."

"Does it?"

He sighed. "Sadly, no. You're getting all the fun this time."

She frowned at the blood on his chest. "I don't know how I feel about this."

Hidan rubbed her arms in comfort. "Relax. This is botched, it won't harm you." And it shouldn't. If he remembered right she might feel the pain if they go that route, but she won't get any of the injuries.

Sakura looked away, trying to step out of his arms. She was about to retract back into her shell again.

He pulled both of them back to the bed – him sitting down and Sakura standing awkwardly. He rolled his eyes at her and scooched back, pulling her with him by her waist. She was about to say something again, something that would probably ruin this further, so he silenced her with a kiss.

At first, she was resistant. But then she melted, resting her hands on his shoulders. He slowly pushed her to turn and lay down under him.

She was the first to pull away with a gasp. "That feels amazing."

He smirked. "Why're you finally admitting that I'm amazing?"

"No, you dolt." She lightly smacked his chest. "The touch transfer – it duplicates everything you feel that I do to you. It's...it's... I dunno..." She pulled him down for another kiss, this time bringing tongue into it and sighing in content.

For some reason, he didn't mind that the jujutsu didn't work on him. The not-botched version wasn't supposed to either, so it only made sense. And judging from how much she was squirming under him, it felt amazing to her – she couldn't get her hands off of him.

"Hidan...More..." She was running her hands all over his body. It was like a spell that kept amplifying.

He hastily undid the clasps on her sleeveless shirt, helping her get out of it. That thing was ridiculous with its long coattail. To get it out of the way, she had to pull it out from under her ass. He was pleased to note that she hadn't bothered to do up her bindings again, and he took advantage of that, palming her tits. They perfectly fit into his hands, and she moaned wantonly.

Sakura's hands were back on his skin, dragging her nails across his back. He chuckled. She was lost to the sensations, eyes screwed shut, little gasps falling past her lips.

"There's something I've been meaning to do," he mumbled, trailing his hands down her body and resting them at the waistband of her pants.

She opened her eyes in question, and in return he kissed her again. He stayed there briefly, slowly moving down her jaw with quick nibbles to the valley between her breasts, giving the pendant there a kiss for good measure as well. She finally removed her hands from him, twisting them in the sheets when he fondled one of her breasts with his hand, while taking the nipple of the other in his mouth. A low moan slipped freely past her lips.

She made the sweetest sounds, and he grinned, moving lower. He left small kisses down her stomach just as her hands returned to his hair, twisting her fingers in it.

"This feels so weird..."

He raised his head to meet her eyes. "Good weird or bad weird?"

She sighed, resting her hands beside her head. "Tingly kind of weird."

Hidan returned to undressing her, moving to remove her sandals. "Well, it's about to get a lot more tingly."

"What do you mean?"

He threw her sandals to the ground and, while he was at it, he removed his own sandals as well. "Did you think I was going to let this opportunity go to waste? I'm gonna have a taste of your pretty, little cunt."

She scrunched her nose. "Don't be gross." Yet, when he pried off her damp pants and underwear, she didn't resist, even helped him get them off.

He hummed, finally getting an eyeful of her naked, flushed skin and the thatch of pink curls between her legs. It was the first time he got to see her like this, spread out for him, his rosary sitting between her breasts. That was a mental picture he'll save for later wank sessions. "You're gonna be singing a different tune in no time." He crawled over her.

Sakura had the perfect picture of defiance on her face.

Hidan spread her legs and settled comfortably between them.

Her expression didn't change, but she was following his every movement.

He kissed her inner thigh, marvelling at how she shuddered. She might be trying to play hard to get, but he saw right through it. He continued to leave small nips down her thigh, all the way to her centre, her most intimate space. Experimentally, he blew hot air on the tender flesh, and she trembled. "If I'd know you'd be such a hot mess for me, I would have insisted we do this sooner." And he really should have insisted. Fuck, she was practically dripping with desire. For him.

She groaned. "Shut up."

Chuckling, he hooked an arm around her thigh, just in case, and sucked her clit between his lips, tugging on it. The gasp from her was music to his ears.

Her fingers wound into his hair, and he pulled back slightly. "You want more?" He knew he was teasing her, testing her patience, but he wanted to hear it, wanted to hear her beg.

"Please..." she whimpered.

The grin that stretched across his lips was positively smug. This was a side he didn't often see of her, as she had a tendency to control things. Here, he was controlling how much she got, how loud she got, how much she was begging for it.

It was exhilarating to see her lose all that carefully curated control. He continued sucking her clit, changing it up every now and then with more languid licks. When it seemed like she was getting used to the routine, he mixed it up by bringing his fingers into it.

She choked on a moan; her legs lurching, and he suddenly was very thankful for having the hindsight of holding her steady. She might be petite, but no doubt she could squeeze his noggin like a watermelon between those thighs.

He slowly pumped in and out of her, watching her bite on her lip. Hands travel up her body, over her pert nipples, and clench in the pillows above her head. If he hadn't already been aroused beyond belief, seeing her now definitely made him hard as a rock.

Before she could complain about his teasing – he knew the complaint was coming no matter how busy she was writhing under him – he closed his lips around her swollen clit, licking and lapping.

Sakura mewled, and he kept her steady with a hand upon her lower stomach. He added another finger, increasing the tempo.

"Fuck, Sakura..." he grumbled against her flesh and sucked on her clit harder when his name fell past her lips then, like a plea, like a prayer.

This was the Sakura he wanted – the one that didn't run and let herself enjoy things. For once, she had finally listened to him, trusted him.

She was clenching on his fingers, hard; she was close, and so, so wet. "Please, I- Hidan-!"

She came with a quiet cry as she bit down on her own hand, her body convulsing. He kept his fingers moving, watching her face and keeping her legs still and away from crushing him. Hearing her say his name, in that breathy voice…

Fuck, the sound went straight to his dick. It was a shame had she silenced herself, though. Sakura panted, chest heaving, an arm over her eyes.

Chuckling, he removed his fingers and wiped his mouth clean with his forearm. "You ready for more, sweetheart?" Sakura peeked from under her arm for a moment. "I have something in mind."

"Oh boy."

He crawled up to her and gently removed her arm. "It's gonna be great for you." He paused. "Well, maybe not as great as me making you come with my mouth, but still pretty fucking amazing."

Sakura sighed. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

"You always have a choice."

She kept searching his face, for something, until... "Okay, what do you have in mind?"

He quickly pecked her on the lips and slid off the bed, searching the mess on the floor of their stuff for a kunai. While at it, he removed his pants as well and threw them on the pile – they were becoming too constricting, anyway.

In one of her pouches, he found what he was looking for. He climbed back on to the bed, showing her the kunai. She eyed it, then looked at him in confusion.

"I want you to cut me with it."

"...Are you insane?"

"Maybe. But listen, this will feel great for you."

She sat up, leaning back on her elbows. "It'll feel painful. I'm not a masochist – I don't get off of pain."

"Yes, it feels painful at first. But then it doesn't."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

He pulled her up in a sitting position, placing the kunai in her palm. "Just do it, trust me."

Sakura eyed him dubiously. "You keep saying that, and I'm not sure if I should anymore."

"Oh, c'mon just do it. We're experimenting here, right?" He waited for her to nod. "Then experiment away." He spread his arms as an invitation for her to finally cut.

She licked her lips and eyed the kunai again before she placed a tentative hand on his shoulder, getting on her knees. "I must have hit my head..." she mumbled and lightly dragged the kunai over his collarbone. It barely stung.

"Harder, Sakura. This is child's play you're doing now. Make it count. Cut me like you mean it."

She was hesitating, so he took her hand in his and dragged the kunai down his chest, cutting deep. Sakura immediately recoiled. "Fucking hell, Hidan."

"Did you feel it?"

"No, but you're bleeding like a pig." She threw away the kunai and brought green chakra to her hand.

Shit, so tools didn't work. "Cut me with something of yours, make a blade or something."

"What? Why are you so adamant that I cut you?"

"Because it feels good after that, and I want you to feel that."

"You want me to feel your masochistic pleasure?"

He growled, knocking away her healing hands. "Just cut me, Sakura with whatever that is not a tool."

She bit her lip, uncertainly eyeing the already healing cut she left before she sighed. "Alright."

Sakura then formed a green chakra blade at the tips of her fingers, placing a hand on his shoulder again. Hesitating, she kept looking at his face, and when he just nodded, she sucked in a breath and dragged the blade from the edge of his collarbone to the middle of his chest.

She did not go easy this time. The cut stung like a bitch. And this time Sakura hissed, recoiling and clutching at her chest. It worked. Fuck...

"You're bleeding...like a lot."

"Quick, cut me again."

She flattened her lips and shook her head before she settled herself close to him again. "By the way, this is a total boner killer."

And sharply dragged the blade across his flesh, not giving him a chance to react. He grunted and Sakura receded, eyes screwed shut and lips now a thin line.

"What do you mean? I'm still hard as steel, sweetheart."

She grimaced, opening her eyes and ran her gaze down his body. "Please never say anything like that again."

He laughed. "What? My junk's not working properly anymore?" Before he could reach a hand down to check, she pulled him towards her and sealed their lips together. She was soft and gentle, carefully pressing her mouth against his. The pain from the cuts harshly contrasted that.

The first tingles of healing ran through his body. This wasn't a regular ritual, so there was a chance of it not working like usual.

And that's why they were experimenting to figure it out. When she cut, she broke the circle on his chest and, while the jujutsu was still active, there was still the possibility of it going wrong because of that. He took the back of her head and angled her, deepening the kiss to something less innocent.

Sakura grunted, pulling back. "This hurts like shit."

"Give it a moment." And he kissed her again. The longer they kissed, the more he thought that it wasn't going to work, but then the slight tingles changed and he accidentally bit her when the first wave of pleasure shot through him.

His chest was burning pleasantly. Sakura gasped and dug her fingers in his shoulders. It wasn't as good as an orgasm, but the feeling was still pleasant.

She panted, eyes hooded. "Is this what you meant?" She hung her head back, moaning slightly, and he pulled her closer, briefly pecking her chin.

"Yeah."

Sakura laughed and dragged her hands into his hair. "Is this why you look like you are at the edge of nutting each time you do a sacrifice?" She had a devious smile on her lips.

"I absolutely do not look like that. How would you even know?"

She bit her lip, trying to conceal her smile. "I might have observed once or twice."

He snorted. "You followin' me?"

Sakura brought him closer, hands wrapped around his head as she kissed him. She moved away from his lips to the side of his jaw, leaving small pecks. "No more than you are following me," she whispered in his ear.

Hidan hummed and pushed her away from him, throwing her back on the bed. She didn't mind at all, a huge smirk on her face as she lifted herself up on her elbows. He crawled on top of her. "By the way, during a sacrifice, it's even stronger than this. Might want to try it sometime, no?"

The smirk didn't leave her face. She pushed his chest and hooked a leg over him. "I see what you're selling, I'm just not interested in buying."

Her touch tingled slightly, especially over the healing cuts. "No? Then I might need to change that sometime soon. You're missing out."

She silenced him with a bruising kiss. "Will you fuck me already or not?" And kept pulling him closer with her leg.

"If the lady asks…" His wounds had healed, yet his blood still had ended up on her, staining her in random splotches and the pendant...Jashin help him. He absolutely loved how hot and bothered she was for him. Just to see her squirm a bit more, he teased her slit with the head of his dick. And squirm she did, biting her lip. Oh the sweet, sweet torture. Before she could complain, he pushed into her, moaning at her warmth.

She gasped, and he hooked her other leg around his waist, right as he started moving. The little sounds she made. Her hands fisted in the sheets under them, and he latched onto the juncture between her neck and shoulder, sucking. She moved along with him, rolling her hips in tandem.

The jujutsu was definitely affecting her; she was way more responsive than ever, and while she still managed to keep herself quiet, the trembles throughout her body and the little gasps were very telling.

"Sakura?" She opened her hooded eyes, panting. "You're sexy as fuck, don't silence yourself." And like she was purposefully defying him, she stifled her moan by biting into her palm. He unhooked one of her legs and pushed it back, leaning closer to her. "You're not very good at listening, are ya?"

She smiled and put one of her fingers in her mouth, muffling herself fully. She was doing this on purpose, just to spite him, the little minx. He might need to find a different use for her devious little hands then.

He slowed down, keeping the strokes languid and shallow. This time she actually moaned, and he grunted in return. Fuck, she was squeezing him again. "Touch me."

Sakura complied and scraped her nails slowly across his chest. It was working on her as well, if her exasperated exhale was anything to go by. "More..."

Hidan kissed her, tangling their tongues together. She even bit on his bottom lip, pulling it, and he moaned in return.

She urged him to move faster with her hips, breaking the rhythm and wrapping her arms around his neck, sharply dragging her nails down his back. When his name slipped past her lips, that was when he really lost control and was quick to comply with her silent request. Their movements had gotten so rough and urgent, that the pendant around her neck was no longer there, having slid somewhere behind her.

This time when Sakura reached to silence her moans with her palm again, he pinned her hand above her head. "Now...none of that." And she had the gall to pout, just as he rolled his hips and then a deliciously sounding mewl slipped past her lips.

Sakura hooked her other leg around his waist again. When she was reaching with her other hand to quieten herself, he freed her and let her bite down on one of his fingers instead. Fuck, now that was a sight.

She wasn't even quiet about it, moaning through it, and he chuckled. She could play defiant all she wanted, but she still turned into goo under him. She gasped, digging her nails into his arms, her head thrown back and her body spasming.

He cursed, losing his balance for a while. She was clenching and pulling and... it was so good, so fucking good.

She bit down on his finger again, hard enough to draw blood. And then he was coming too, trembling and groaning, his movements jerky.

Sakura removed his finger from her mouth and pulled him down for a kiss to silence his grunts and moans. She kissed him forcefully, plunging her tongue past his lips and completely taking control of it. It was bliss. Pure, perfect bliss.

When he finally got free from her clutches, she was panting, her chest heaving, cheeks rosy and lips kiss-swollen.

Hidan observed her face for a moment, his breathing matching hers. She looked absolutely delicious like this – well fucked by him. Him and no one else.

"What's with you and the silence all of a sudden?"

"We're in a public place," she whispered.

And he laughed. "Seriously? Who gives a shit?"

She wrapped her hands around his neck, playing with the hair there. "It's rude. I wouldn't want to listen to someone having loud sex, so I don't want to do it to others."

Gently, with a few fingers, he pushed away a few strands of hair from her damp face. That was utter bull, and she was just trying to defy him again. Before he had gotten his dick into her, she hadn't given a single flying fuck of how loud she could have gotten.

Still, he went along with it. "Sometimes you care too much."

Sakura sighed and sprawled on the bed, unwrapping herself from him. "Maybe."

He withdrew, shuddering when he pulled out of her and laid down next to her. "You should fix that."

"And you should fix your carelessness."

Hidan barked a laugh and turned to look at her. "Let's just agree to disagree then."

"Sure."

They laid in a serene quiet for a while, observing each other's face. He couldn't figure out for the life of him why he liked her – there was nothing special about her looks wise, apart from that larger than average forehead. Yet it suited her – the large forehead, the stupid pink hair and dainty features. It all came together in a package that was pure Sakura. And her personality only added to it.

And he really, really wanted to kiss her again.

Sakura sighed and turned to gaze at the ceiling. "This was...different."

Her words broke him from his daze and he ended the jujutsu with a single hand sign. As soon as it was cancelled, it felt like something got pulled away from him, like something important wasn't there anymore. "We should do this more often."

She hummed in response, closing her eyes and resting her hands on her stomach.

This was different, very different, just laying together. Usually, she ran after sex, sometimes he did the running. It was kind of nice to finally enjoy the moment, enjoy the presence of one another.

"I should probably go. I had a meeting that I'm probably late for now."

Hidan rolled over on his stomach and put a hand around her, halfway bringing her under him. "Just reschedule." He nuzzled the side of her face, leaving small pecks, giving in to the impulse of wanting to kiss her.

"I really can't. It was kind of important." She ignored his advances and slipped out of his hold, taking some of the warmth with her.

He sighed, falling back on the bed. "It really won't kill ya to skip it."

She searched the floor for her clothes, making something heavy thud on the floor in the process. "Yeah, but it might kill someone else."

Hidan sighed again and stayed quiet after that. She had made her choice, and there was nothing he could say to make her change her mind. Instead, he observed her getting dressed, covering her flushed skin and the stains of blood he'd left on her.

When she got herself in a bit of a tousled-sort of order, she finally looked at him, and he smirked in return. Her cheeks warmed as her eyes travelled over his naked body. He was tempted to grope himself if just to see how red she'd get then.

"I...uh...this was really nice, actually. A bit weird." As if to make her point, she licked her finger and tried to rub off a spot of blood on her arm. "But I had a good time, so..." She crawled back on the bed, staying next to him.

He froze, not sure what to expect, but instead all she did was leave a quick peck on his cheek.

"...thanks."

She didn't give him a chance to respond as she was rushing out of the door the very next moment.

Fucking hell...she was out to destroy him.

xxx

After that night, he had expected for her to try to emulate that day once again. He was disappointed – she never brought it up again.

If anything, he saw her less. She stayed in Konoha more, hardly ever taking missions outside of the village. When he'd asked her why, she'd responded with a simple "busy with a project". It was disappointing. Again.

And whenever they did meet, she was less forward, mostly just talking out her issues. It was like she'd lost all the fire, all the hatred she'd had for him.

Sometimes she'd even try to rope him into helping her treat other people. It was...an experience seeing her life firsthand.

He wasn't quite certain if he liked the praises and endless expressions of gratitude he received after not having done much. It differed from the usual death threats or screams of anguish he was used to hearing. He didn't think Jashin approved of it much either. But it had made Sakura happy to see him help someone, and she'd even praised him for doing good and following her instructions.

It introduced a slew of conflicting feelings. A part of him felt talked down to, like he was an idiot that couldn't do the simplest tasks. The other part was happy to see her smile.

He didn't like it. He was constantly out of his element in that environment – it was against everything he was to treat sick people. He was an entity of death, not healing and life. He didn't care, he couldn't give a rat's ass if an old lady was dying from some dumb shit.

But Sakura...

She was like a different person with those people. She was kind and soft-worded, attentive and happy. It was bizarre to see this side of her. Was it an act? Or was the bitch part of her an act?

In the future, he refrained from intervening in her acts of kindness, despite her pleas to help. It made him the bad guy, if the dirty looks from the villagers, who were around to hear and see those conversations were of any indication. A few choice words though fixed that real quick. Seeing people flee in fear from him made him happy.

Sakura glared at him like he was a little unruly child. Yeah, maybe that was the first time after a long while when they didn't get along as well. And that might have led to raunchy sex in her inn room.

When it happened again, a few weeks later (he wasn't even sure what the argument had been about), he discovered that there might be a pattern with them. That the reason why Sakura was more distant with him was because they were not arguing, they weren't at each other's throats.

Fair point, he liked it better when they argued, since that brought out that firey side of her that was hot as fuck. But that still wasn't who Sakura was most of the time.

In her daily life, she was a kind soul with a passion for helping people, for trying to make the world a better place to live in. He couldn't give two shits about people or the state of the world.

And this was the reason she was distant to him – she had grown at peace with his presence, accepting it, thus realizing that she had nothing to talk about with him.

He tried having different conversations with her that didn't involve her job – Jashin knows he tried – but the woman was married to her damn job.

Whatever the fuck they had between them was a dysfunctional mess, and he hated that. It was too much trouble than it was worth, especially when she got all preachy and tried to change his ways. He didn't shove Jashinism down her throat (fair point, he might have tried it once, but quickly discarded the idea). So why couldn't she do the same and save the being-a-martyr-for-people speech for someone else?

But okay, he quickly found out that telling her shit straightforward sometimes worked. Without insults, of course. Insulting her when telling her things had been the problem. She definitely was more forthcoming when he called her 'sweetheart', and not mockingly – which, by the way, he had been surprised to discover that he had been doing unconsciously.

Hidan wanted her to like him. He liked it when she smiled because of something he said. Jashin knows why he was torturing himself like this.

He wasn't about to bend backwards to get in her good books all the time, and sometimes she didn't make the effort either. It got to the point where he purposefully searched for an argument during the sparse times they came across each other, despite not having any beef with each other anymore.

He knew she was still iffy about the fact that he had threatened and killed her friends and he pressed on that issue hard if just to get that fiery, angry Sakura out. It didn't lead to sex, though. Which had been a monumental waste of effort.

What the fuck did the bitch even want from him? He tried being some sort of friend to her, to see if it would lead to something else, but she turned into an annoying twat when he did that.

He tried treating her like he did in the beginning, and that only made her turn to violence and disappear for weeks.

Why the ever loving fuck was he even trying anymore?

xxx

It took nearly two weeks before he saw her again. Faster than usual, and a good thing too, because he needed some damn answers.

Even after all this time, they hadn't exchanged numbers or established any other way to communicate, and the lack of thereof had driven him nuts. It was probably another thing he'll need to hound her about.

Hidan ran across her on the street of a popular border-crossing village between Land of Fire and Land of Grass. Her hands were full of supplies of who knows what, and she was a bit pink in the face, eyes pinned to the road before her as she mumbled something under her breath. It was chilly outside enough that he could see his breath every time he exhaled. The street was fairly crowded, filled with people getting ready for the holidays.

He stood in her path, hands in pockets. "Need any help?"

Her eyes snapped to him in surprise before she relaxed. "Sure." She easily passed half of the parcels off to him. He quickly peeked into one bag, only to see that it was stuffed with toys. "Why are you here?" She continued walking, and he easily fell in step with her.

"I'm looking for you, actually. Just followed the rumour mill. We should really establish a way to communicate, this hoping-to-cross-each-other stuff is growing old."

"Do you even have a phone?"

"Yes. I might have spent five years in the ground, but I'm not tech-illiterate."

Sakura laughed. "Alright. I don't really know my number from memory. I hardly ever use it because I'm not home most of the time, so..."

He shook his head good naturedly. "It'd be wise to upgrade to cordless."

She sighed. "Maybe... Do you have a summon?"

"No. Why?"

"Summons can exchange messages too. Oh well, we'll just have to stick to letters for now."

A phone would have been preferable since he didn't have a stable residence, but whatever. He tried to bite down on the feeling like she was avoiding establishing a fixed communication line, yet the taste of bitterness stayed upon his tongue.

He peered down at her and the two giant bags she carried that also seemed to be stuffed with toys. "What's with the bags, anyway?"

"Oh, they're for the hospital. The holidays are coming up, so I thought it'd be nice to hand out some stuffed toys to the kids and to whoever else might end up alone during the holidays."

Hidan snorted. "Should've known that was going to be the case."

She nudged him with her elbow, and he frowned at her. "It's nice to do something charitable every now and then. You should try it more often."

"Hard pass."

"You might even make someone's day." She was smiling obnoxiously.

"Is this your roundabout way of saying you want a gift from me?"

"No! Though, now that you mention it-"

"Pass."

She laughed. "C'mon, the hospital's just around this corner. I'll hand these off, then we can go do whatever." She made a flippant move with her hand.

He grunted in response.

Sakura quickly handed the bags over, chatting with the receptionist for a bit. He stayed back, observing the scene.

It was a small and campy place. He doubted there even were that many patients in the hospital as there were toys in the bag. He shook his head with a smile just as Sakura was returning.

She lightly slapped his shoulder. "Stop being a judgy prick and let's go." She exited through the double doors, and he followed in her step.

Sakura huddled in her jacket, eyeing the sky with a grimace. "I wish the weather would already decide if it wanted to be cold or not."

Hidan had no comment, so he just followed her down the street, trying to bring up the nerve to ask. It shouldn't be hard, but he would be putting himself up in the open. Knowing how Sakura had a habit to crush him whenever, he wasn't sure if he wanted to bring it up. But that's why he came, didn't he? Just rip it off like a bandage.

He clamped his hands in his pockets, clenching his teeth. "Hey, so..."

She peered at him through her bangs.

"I just..."

"What is it?"

"Why are you avoiding me?"

Sakura drew her brows low. "Avoiding you? What makes you think that?"

"I'm not stupid, Sakura. I noticed how you seem to leave Konoha less, how you always have some kind of excuse, how you got this idea in your head that I'm...that I'm..."

She stopped, turning to him, brows raised. "That you're what?"

"Fixable? Or whatever it is you think you're doing." He avoided looking at her face, trying to compose his thoughts. This is why he didn't do this shit, this is why he didn't make connections. Shit inevitably got complicated.

Sakura jutted out her hip and propped her hand on her side. "What the hell are you talking about, Hidan?"

"That you're being a bitch." She glared. "More than usual. I don't get what your problem is. Why do you keep avoiding me, blowing me off? Most times you aren't even trying to have a normal conversation, not as much as you are preaching about your bullshit."

She got a nasty snarl on her face. "So you think helping a hospital is bullshit? Fuck you, Hidan." She poked him in the chest with a finger. "Fuck you and your stupid macho man act." Another poke. "I get it that not everyone wants to-"

He grabbed her hand before she could poke him again. "You're not fucking listening to me," he growled. "I'm asking why are you avoiding me, why are you playing these games with me?"

Sakura ripped her hand from his hold and turned away from him, hugging her hands to herself.

"I just want some damn answers. I want-"

"Because I'm afraid, Hidan." She turned to him, eyes hard. "I'm afraid of what my friends will think, what my shishou will think. I'm afraid that people will judge me and ostracise me. Please, have at least some teeny tiny bit of self-awareness and realize that you are not welcome in Konoha, that you are the bad guy, that you murder people for the sake of some deity. Do you realize how that sounds to normal people? How this makes me out to be? I'm risking everything just to see you, I'm risking my career, my future, just to fool around with you! So I'm sorry if I have been a bitch, if I don't exactly entertain the idea of taking this further."

She was panting by the end of her rant, face flushed and her clenched hands trembling by her sides.

The surrounding people walked around them, their chatter filling the tense silence between them.

He scowled, biting down the reflex to lash out at her with something nasty because she had a point. A point he couldn't argue. "So this is it? You're ending this?"

"Unless you're willing to change, yes."

That explained a lot. All of that talk about helping others, pushing him to do it – she was trying to change him, change him to fit her ideals.

"This is who I am, Sakura. I can't just change myself at the snap of a finger. I'm sorry that your friends got hurt because of me, okay. I really am. But I can't pretend and say that I regret it or that I care about them. I care about you."

She wrapped her arms around herself, turning away from him. "But...would you be willing to change?"

"If this is your way of telling me to abandon Jashinism, fucking forget about it."

"No, no, I meant...would you be willing to do it differently? The rituals, I mean. Would you be willing to come back with me and work this through?"

"What are you getting at?"

"I like you okay! I don't know why – I must have a masochistic streak or something – but I do, even with all the horrible shit you do, even when our values don't match. It's wrong and very, very unhealthy, but I'm willing to compromise if you are."

She was looking at him with big, hopeful, pleading eyes. And they were working. He was considering it.

"I...need to think about it."

"Okay...umm...okay, that is good."

The rest of the walk was awkward, and Sakura tried to ditch him as soon as she reached her inn. He didn't complain; he wanted some time alone to think over everything Sakura had just laid on him.

What would happen if he agreed? What would be the conditions if he did? How much would the conditions impair him? Did his sacrifice of his being equal her sacrifice of her position?

He would have asked her all of those things, but he simply didn't want to deal with it anymore. It also came with the possibility of them fighting and not seeing each other in months. The direction this was going wasn't good and something told him that when he heard the conditions, he would not like them.

It was like Sakura wanted to domesticate him like a dog. And it didn't sit right with him. His mission as a Jashinist was to bring sacrifices to Lord Jashin, wreak havoc, death and destruction.

He couldn't do that if he was forced to stay in one place, play nice to people he didn't care about, and adhere to rules that limited him. It did not sound like a good time.

He'd promised himself that after the Akatsuki debacle, he wouldn't join any other organization or structure.

People telling him what to do wasn't really his style.

xxx

For nearly a month, he pondered everything. He constantly asked Sakura what she wanted from him. But what did he want from her? A relationship? A companionship? Or just sex?

If it was the sex, he could have gotten it far easier from different sources. He wasn't sure if he wanted a relationship from her. They clearly didn't get along if they spent too much time around each other. And living with her sounded like a nightmare.

That, and he wasn't sure if what she wanted from a relationship was what he wanted from it. It certainly wasn't just companionship either. She was fun to be around in small doses. Of course the sex was amazing, so he didn't want to lose that.

It sounded a lot like a friends-with-benefits situation is what he wanted, and it possibly was the best solution to everything too. She got to keep her career unsullied with his not-so-stellar reputation, and he kept his freedom.

They had been managing so far. It only got nasty when either of them tried to push the "relationship" they had between them to be something more. So… Why fix something that wasn't broken?

Hopefully, Sakura had come down to the same conclusion, so he doesn't feel like he was the only idiot pondering this shit. He'd never spent that much time on something so...so frivolous. Jashin certainly wasn't happy that he wasted so much time on it.

It was either make her a follower or cut her loose. And he had considered both options, except Sakura wouldn't like the first one, and he kind of liked her too much to just cut her loose.

With his mind made up, the only way to see Sakura early now was to sneak into Konoha. She probably won't like that. But he wasn't willing to waste any more time on this. It needed to be settled once and for all.

Konoha was one of the major villages and well-protected. It was one of the rare times he had to give up brute force and play it smart. Funny part was that it was just as easy to smuggle himself in Konoha as it was with Kumo or Mizu.

After that, it was simply staking out the village under a henge and finding Sakura. One time, he even risked walking around without a henge, just to check the reaction of the people. Surprisingly enough, few paid him any attention, and if they did, it was because of his scythe. Some news of his reappearance had been made, but nothing too major as to put him into the bingo books.

Why wasn't he surprised to find out that Sakura had blown it all way out of proportion? He wasn't that famous, and he was officially supposed to be incapacitated. They knew he had escaped, yet not much had been done about it. There were some nice perks to not being a high priority.

With glee, he explored the village and noted some differences it had from other major villages. He might have also come across one of Sakura's friends – that jinchuuriki kid.

Curiosity satisfied, he searched for Sakura. That shouldn't be too hard – find the hospital and she should be there. She threw him a complete curveball when he came across her coming out of a flower shop, a white overcoat on her. She had a mellow smile on her face and white lilies in hand.

Well, at least that saved him the trouble of looking for the hospital.

Hidan approached her with a satisfied grin. "Those for me?"

Sakura startled out of her reverie. She opened her mouth to speak, but then her expression changed and she was frowning. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

He shrugged, observing the bypassing people. "Came for a visit." He turned his sights back to her with a smirk.

She latched onto his upper arm and dragged him along behind her. "You shouldn't be here," she hissed through her teeth.

Hidan yanked his arm free. "I don't know if you've noticed, but no one gives a shit if I'm here. If anything, you're the one here making a scene."

Sakura took his hand this time and continued dragging him down the street, this time keeping a firm grip with her unnatural strength. "If Ino, Chouji or, god forbid, Shikamaru had seen you, you would have been done for. You've been lucky." There was a tick in her jaw and no traces of the nice smile she had before.

He didn't bother fighting her. It was rather nice to hold her hand anyway, even if she was kind of squeezing the life out of it. He didn't miss how at one point she steered them into less travelled streets and stayed on them.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Sakura seethed and, if possible, increased her grip on his hand.

"I was thinkin' that I'm tired of waiting around and I want to settle this once and for all."

"And your solution was to barge into Konoha?"

"Well, you wouldn't have come to me, so..."

She sighed heavily and shook her head. Yet she kept quiet until they reached a nondescript multi-levelled building. Sakura yanked the door open, dragged him after her through it and up four flights of stairs, finally letting go of him to search her pouch for a key. Then she stuffed the flowers in his hands to go through a couple hand signs before she finally opened the door.

"This your place?" It was small, but homey. The proof of her staying here a lot was in the form of various plants, both potted and cut. Nothing seemed to be out of place, though, every item was placed with immaculate precision. It suited her.

She ripped the flowers from him. "Yes. Now talk. What was so important that you had to come here?" With agitated steps she entered her kitchen, him still following her, where she yanked open a cupboard to pull out a vase and filled it with water.

"I think I have a solution to our problems?"

"Oh?" She placed the flowers in the vase and left it on the counter. "I think I came up with something as well after talking with my friends a bit." She crossed her arms and leaned against the edge of the counter. The light rays coming from the window behind her framing her in a glowing halo.

"You talked with your friends about me? I'm touched." In a mock gesture, he placed his hand right over his heart.

"In vague terms, yes. And most of them agreed I need to end this, whatever it is we have."

All humour left his face. "You can't be serious."

"Very. I'm done, Hidan. I don't want to spend my life like this."

"You don't even want to hear me out?"

She shrugged flippantly. "Go ahead."

He licked his dry lips, trying to match her steady, piercing gaze. "See, my solution was – why fix what isn't broken."

Sceptically, she drew her brows together.

"It worked in the beginning. Why can't it still work if we keep it like that?"

Sakura chewed on her lip, eyes straying to somewhere behind him. "Because it wasn't normal."

"Normal's overrated."

"Well, then I didn't like it."

"Bullshit! What's the real reason? You clearly stated that you like me, that you want this to work out. What changed?"

She kept avoiding looking at him, her fingers turning white from the grip she had on her arms.

"Sakura?"

"I just don't think it's right…" she answered hesitantly.

Hidan sighed. "What you feel isn't wrong, okay? I'm seriously out of my depth here, but I'm trying because I like you, because I don't want to lose this."

She smiled lightly, finally meeting his eyes. "I think this is the first time you told me that."

"What?"

"You never said you liked me."

"I thought that was obvious."

"It's nice to hear it."

He chuckled, shaking his head, and approached her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Jashin will smite me for getting caught up with you so much, but, yes, Sakura, I like you. I like that you're a huge bitch, that you like to nag-"

She slapped his chest lightly in mock anger. "I thought you were supposed to say nice things about me there?"

"Well, that would be boring, no?"

Sakura laughed. "Can't stop being a thrill seeker even when you're confessing?"

"I'm all about those thrills, sweetheart." He pulled her closer, wrapping his hands around her and pecked her gently on the lips. "So..."

"You're suggesting what exactly?" She put her hands around his waist in return, tilting her head.

"We're friends, right?"

"I...guess."

"So we keep that."

"But-"

"And we can be friends with benefits."

"Oh..." Sakura trailed off, chewing on her lip.

"Not good enough?" The fear that she'd reject that idea dropped over him like a bucket of ice. There was only so much convincing he could pull off before he had to cut his losses.

"No, no, it's fine. I just…" She sighed, averting her eyes to the ground. "You realize I can't keep this up forever?"

Something akin to a heavy rock fell off his chest, and he had to hold back a relieved sigh. She was uncertain, but she was ready to try and that was all he could ever wish for. "I'm aware."

"So why continue trying? I won't change my mind, you know."

He pressed his forehead against hers. "I know. I just want to make it last for as long as we can stand each other."

She snickered. "I can already barely stand you now."

Maybe if he didn't have his mission, maybe if he'd been a ponce from the get-go he would have considered throwing it all to the wind and accepting her offer, accept to have a normal life. But that wasn't who he was, and sacrificing himself (while she didn't have to sacrifice anything?) didn't seem fair.

Uncertainty still marred her face, and he thought that she'd changed her mind until she spoke up. "I wonder what I'll tell my friends."

"Do you have to tell them anything?"

She flattened her lips. "I'm not going to lie. I already had to tiptoe around all of this with careful wording. Some of them are suspicious."

"Well, we're friends, so just say that you're spending your time with a friend." He shrugged nonchalantly, playing with a strand of her hair. The pink colour was really pretty when the sun hit it.

Sakura sighed. "I wish it could be so easy."

"Or just tell them the truth and omit my name if it bothers you so much."

She was quiet for a while, her hand fisting in his shirt. "Ugh, fine, but you're never coming back to Konoha."

"Not even if I just snuck in your apartment?"

"No. This is my space and honestly I might not always want you here."

"Fair enough." He kissed her, and Sakura snaked her hands up around his neck, bringing him closer.

"By the way, I also got a phone."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, so we don't have to hope to be lucky to run across each other. Which was weird with how often it happened."

"What was up with that, anyway?"

"I don't know. But I'm kind of glad it happened. I got a friend out of it." This time she kissed him, pushing them away from the counter.

He chuckled into it. "Yeah."

The kiss quickly turned into much more with small nips and bites, and it became obvious that Sakura was leading him somewhere. She moved away to grip him by the hair and expose his neck to leave small bites there.

Hidan ran his hands under her shirt. "You still sure you don't want to be a Jashinist? I think Lord Jashin has taken a liking to you by now."

Sakura pulled back to deadpan at him.

He laughed. "Okay, okay, point taken." She kissed him again. "But are you absolutely sure?"

"Hidan?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up and fuck me."

He smirked deviously before picking her up by her thighs, her immediately wrapping her legs around his waist and her hands around his neck.

"Gladly."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the best compromise I could come up without breaking them up completely. I've learned from my failed attempts with MadaSaku at this lol Is it still clunky? Yes, yes it is, but I was doing something completely new to me, so I think I'm forgiven.
> 
> Also, I think this is the part where I come clean and say that the Buffy influence was big here. Like for reference, the smut scene in last chapter was very, very influenced by the episode Smashed. The whole vibe of Sakura and Hidan's relationship was like a more of a mellow take on Buffy and Spike lmao I'm hopeless xD If I wasn't a pussy I should probably just write Buffy fanfics at this point.
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for reading my self-indulgent garbage. It means a lot to my rare pair shipper heart that there are people who enjoy my weird works.


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